Let Me Dry Your Tears
by CallMeTony
Summary: Tonks has joined the Order, and on her guard duty, she gets captured. Where and why, she doesn't know. Rated T, but it may rise because of violence and strong language.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

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><p>It was late evening in lonely street in London, when old and grim-looking man with wheezing blue eye wobbled in the open. Following him was young pink-haired woman with wide smile on her face. Older man was looking at her and scowled. He didn't seem to find anything funny about the situation, that however had no effect on vibrant woman. He handed her a piece of parchment and when she had read it he burned it. After that out of nowhere appeared a house between numbers 11 and 13. When the house was fully visible, man rushed them in.<p>

In the dark and damp hallway of 12 Grimmauld Place, man ushered young woman forward. When she cautiously made her way further to the creepy house, she watched horrible heads of the house-elves on the wall. She wasn't paying attention where she was going, and with loud crash she tripped over a huge, ugly troll-leg umbrella stand. Her clumsy fall was accompanied with loud, insulting shrieks from Mrs. Black's portrait, which curtains had shot open from the noisy crash.

"Nymphadora!" older man grunted to Nymphadora Tonks, who was trying to get up from the floor, her cheeks red from embarrassment.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to.." she didn't make it to the end of her sentence, when door to the basement kitchen shot open and a man with long and messy black hair emerged to the hallway.

"Oh shut up you miserable, old hag!" he yelled when he yanked the curtains closed and the shrieks subsided. He then turned to Tonks, who had gotten up from the floor.

"Sirius!" she exclaimed and threw her arms around her cousin's neck.

Sirius Black hugged her and patted her on the back before pulling away. He examined her closely.

"Wow, you've changed! How long has it been since I last saw you? Seventeen years?"

"Roughly", Tonks said and smiled at her cousin.

"Save your happy reunion later, meeting is starting", Mad-Eye Moody snarled as he brushed past them.

Sirius and Tonks followed Mad-Eye downstairs to the kitchen. Sirius took his seat on the end of the table and Tonks sat beside him. She looked around the table and found many familiar faces from Hogwarts and the Auror Department. She recognised her old professors Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape (to her utter displeasure) and Kingsley Shacklebolt and few other aurors. Sirius and Tonks were the last ones to arrive before Dumbledore stepped out from the fireplace and meeting began.

"Good evening everyone. As you can see, we have new member in the Order, Nymphadora Tonks", she cringed at her dreadful first name, but didn't say anything. Everybody turned their eyes to look at her, which se found quite uncomfortable.

Unsure what to say, she started, "Wotcher, I'm Tonks. I've been an auror for a few years now and I'm a metamorphmagus", she said, unable to find anything else she could tell them.

"Thank you, Nymphadora", Dumbledore didn't notice Tonks' frown to herself at the mention of her name. "As we all know, Remus has been in underground mission and I haven't heard of him for two weeks. It's difficult for him to send a report to me without being noticed, so patience, everyone", Tonks wondered who was this Remus and where was he, if reporting regularly was so difficult. She however let it drop, when Dumbledore looked to Snape over his half-moon spectacles and asked, "Your report, Severus?"

As Severus started his long and boring report without any emotion in his voice, Tonks started to pay attention anywhere but to her annoying ex-professor and his dull voice. She spotted Molly Weasley next to stove, boiling tea as she listened (or just pretended to listen) Snape's report. Tonks noticed she wasn't the only one who wasn't giving full attention to Snape, Sirius didn't even try to cover his yawns and his sudden interest in the ugly ceiling above.

When Snape's drawling voice stopped, Tonks let out a long sigh of relief.

"And before our meeting ends, I'd like to remind all of you about your guard duties. Because of recent events, I'd like to have some of you patrolling in Hogsmeade occasionally. Nymphadora, if it's suitable for your schedule, I'd want you to patrol in Hogsmeade from Friday to Monday", Dumbledore said and smiled at her.

"Suits me!" Tonks quipped enthusiastically, she felt very happy and useful when she could help the Order someway.

Shortly after that, Dumbledore finished the meeting and disappeared in green flames. The Order members started leave from their seats to the fireplace and front door. Tonks however remained still, thinking about catching up with her cousin. Sirius was talking with some members who weren't already left, so she got up and decided to talk with Molly for awhile.

"Tonks dear! It's good to see you! How are you? Would you like some tea?" Molly was hugging her and pouring tea for her before she even got to utter an answer.

Molly gave her a hot cup of tea, which she took gratefully.

"Uh, thanks. I'm fine, thank you. How about you lot? How is Charlie?" Tonks asked about her old schoolmate. She hadn't heard of Charlie for two years, so she was very interested about how he was.

"Oh, Charlie is in Romania, he's studying dragons! We haven't seen him much lately, but he writes us once in a week", Molly fussed and started to clean the table from cups.

When Molly was busying herself with the table, Tonks made her way towards Sirius, who was now talking with Kingsley.

"Hi Tonks! Join us, we were just having a lovely conversation with Kingsley here. Someone has spotted me in Germany, which really is something because I've never been there", Sirius said cheerily and let out a laugh.

"Well, I'll be on my way out. Bye Sirius, see you in work Tonks", Kingsley said and left.

Sirius seized a bottle of firewhiskey and two goblets from cupboard before gesturing Tonks to follow him upstairs. He led them to the sitting-room and dropped himself on an old, dusty couch before pouring himself and Tonks firewhiskey. Tonks settled herself on an equally worn and dusty armchair opposite Sirius, two goblets between them on a coffee table. Sirius grabbed his own goblet and took a long swig, when Tonks just sipped her own.

When he had swallowed, he watched her intently and smiled, "So, Nymphadora. We have lots of catch up to do. How are your parents?"

Tonks scowled at him for using her first name, "You know I don't like being called by my first name."

"Yeah, I know", Sirius grinned.

Tonks rolled her eyes, "Anyway, mum and dad are fine. I haven't seen them much lately, I've been busy at work. They're fretting over me being an auror. Mum was very distraught when she found about… you know. We haven't talked about it, but I think she misses you, and never truly believed that you were the one who betrayed them."

Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment, "It would be nice to see Andy, she was my favourite cousin. Can you bring her over?"

"I think I can, I have to ask Dumbledore about it."

Sirius' eyes seemed to brighten up noticeably about this.

"Great! It's very lonely in this hellhole, even more so now when Remus is on his mission."

Tonks tried to recall someone named Remus. He was mentioned during the meeting and Sirius may have mentioned him when he was visiting her when she was a kid, before his trip to Azkaban. Otherwise, Tonks didn't know the man.

"Who is he?" Tonks asked, unable to hold her endless curiosity.

"Oh, he's one of the Marauders, one of my best friends. He's been living here every now and then and kept me some company to prevent me from going insane in here", he told her and grinned, but when he mentioned himself going insane in this miserable house, his eyes darkened slightly. If she hadn't looked close enough, she would have missed it.

"Uh, okay. But where is he now?" she inquired.

Sirius poured himself more firewhiskey and swigged, "Remus doesn't talk much about his missions, but I think he would like to tell you about them himself", he looked at Tonks and smiled sadly.

"Well, I think I'm going now, I have work tomorrow", she said and got up leaving her goblet on the coffee table, followed by Sirius.

"Come back soon", he demanded.

"I promise", she said and laughed at his overly excited expression.

When they reached the narrow hallway, Tonks turned to hug her cousin and said bye to him.

As soon as she got out, number 12 vanished again and she turned to apparate.

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><p>Next few weeks passed in blur of guard duties in the Department of Mysteries and Hogsmeade. Tonks was once again in her cubicle in the Auror Department, finishing reports and re-writing some old ones. Her work as an auror wasn't overly exciting and she was bored to death in her dull cubicle.<p>

When she had finished writing all the reports, she prepared herself for her guard duty. Like she had done a lot of times before, she apparated to Hogsmeade.

Tonks watched at the silent village, before she started wandering around empty streets. The waning moon radiated moonlight to the otherwise dark alleys.

She continued her lonely wandering around the sleeping village and hummed some of her favourite songs silently in her head to help her boredom. When she came near the forest, she snapped out of her reverie when she heard someone moving close to her.

"Lumos", she whispered and tried to see who it was. She pointed to the dark forest with her wand, trying to see any movement between thick trees.

Then she heard someone running. Fast. She tried frantically to find the source of the voice, panic raising in her.

And then she screamed when someone leaped at her and everything went black.

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><p>So, that was the first chapter! :) I may or may not rewrite it, I'm not sure. It turned out to be quite short, but I'm trying to make chapters longer in the future! ^^ Hope you liked it.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for everyone, who read the first chapter, and thank you for your review NymphaTonksLupin, I really appreciate it. :)

I'm trying not to upload chapters shorter than this, I hope it's long enough. :D

**Warning: Violence and strong language**

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the characters.

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><p>Tonks woke up on the ground. She fluttered her eyes open and tried to get up on her elbows, but an awful throbbing on the back of her head stopped her and she lied back down. She put her hand on the back of her head, and felt that her hair was sticky with blood. It was already congealed and blood was glueing her hair to her scalp. When the worst throbbing was over, she tried to get up again. When she managed to sit up, she started to look around. She wasn't in Hogsmeade anymore, that was clear. She noticed to her utter surprise and displeasure that she was laid on the floor in some kind of room made of logs. The room had one small window, and it was very dusty and in the corner sat very worn, old couch. In the middle of the room was a pelt, probably from some kind of deer. Whoever lived there, probably didn't spend much time cleaning. On the whole, the room was <em>filthy<em> and it had weird, rusty odor in it.

Tonks was determined to get out of this creepy room, and started frantically looking for her wand. She checked all of her pockets, to no avail. She stood up from the ground an started to wipe dust from her auror robes. There wasn't much furniture in the room, so it shouldn't be hard to find it. She walked over to the couch and kneeled down to look under it and found only dirt. When she started to get up to continue her search, she heard a voice behind her.

"You won't find your wand here", said gruff voice.

She turned to look who was talking to her, and almost shrieked in horror.

Fenrir Greyback, a werewolf. Of course she knew him, pictures of him were scattered around the Auror Department. He's been accused of torturing, killing.. And raping. At the last one she shivered. What was she going to do? She was in the same room with a killer, had no idea where she was and she didn't have her wand.

Perfect.

She started to examine him, hoping that she could just nick her wand from him.

When he noticed her scrutinizing him with her eyes, he let out an evil laugh.

"I don't have your wand, you dropped it in the forest when you fell and hit your head on the rock", he told her and chuckled maliciously.

She sighed, defeated.

"What do you want from me?" she asked him in a small voice.

"Oh, nothing much. I'm just going to use you to reward one of my men", he said and smiled snidely. Tonks felt like she might throw up.

"Take off those disgusting robes", he ordered, but she just stared at him.

Greyback approached her, placed his dirty, yellow-nailed hand on her throat and pinned her to wall. He looked at her pointedly.

"Take it off", and she did as she was told. Under her auror robes she had tight-fitting, green T-shirt and ripped jeans.

Greyback took his hand from her throat and grabbed her arm, shoving her to the door. Tonks was frightened, she had no idea what to do or how to escape. When she was this worried, she probably couldn't even morph her appearance properly, so she concentrated on keeping her morph from going back to her natural self. She didn't want to show any weakness and wanted to keep her ability as a secret.

He dragged her out of the cottage to the forest. It was already night, and it was completely dark under the thick trees. She couldn't see five feet in front of her and she tripped over rocks and roots of trees.

When they had walked in silence about five minutes, Greyback stopped. In front of them were huge rocks, splattered around and supported against a cliff, making caves. There was also a campfire, and around it were scruffy-looking men. Tonks didn't see their faces very well, but they all had scars all over their faces and their clothes were unclean and tattered, they were clearly werewolves. They all looked up when they spotted Greyback, then their eyes fell on Tonks and some of them smiled gleefully.

"Good evening, gentlemen", Greyback said to get everyone's attention.

"Our most recent mission to the village was very successful, so, I thought you would enjoy a little award", he said and shoved Tonks forward, so they all could see her well. She heard a content blabbering from the group, as some of the men were planning how to share her and heard whistles here and there. She tried her best not to listen.

"Not so fast", Greyback said to silence them, "This one here is a special one. She is a very rare shape-shifter, and she can turn into anything you want to."

_Oh, he knew._

That knowledge put excited grins on few faces, but some of them were sceptical.

"She can demonstrate", he told them, and one of them shouted "make yourself blond!"

She just stood there and refused. "You do like you've been told to do", Greyback snarled and kicked her. She fell gracelessly to the ground and heard someone laughing. She got scratches on her knees and elbows and obeyed. She grew her hair long and turned it to blond, and immediately heard satisfied growls. She shut her eyes and tried to stop tears from falling, praying for some kind of a miracle to save her.

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><p><strong>Remus<strong>

Remus was sitting with other werewolves by the campfire, listening to them while they talked about their latest mission, where they had attacked a muggle house and burned it down. He didn't know what Greyback had done to the muggles, but he wasn't sure he really wanted to know… Greyback had been very pleased when he had spotted Remus to be one of the men who set the house on fire. He was obviously gaining their trust. They had been very sceptical of him first, because he had been living with wizards all of his age, but accompanying them on their missions and just pretending to do something important seemed to be working fine so far.

Remus watched the blazing fire blindly, without really seeing anything. He was tired of this underground mission, and just wanted to go back to Grimmauld Place and talk to Sirius again.

His thoughts were interrupted when Greyback came to view, and he had company, a young woman. He couldn't see who she was, because she stood behind Greyback.

"Good evening, gentlemen", Greyback started.

"Our most recent mission to the village was very successful, so, I thought you would enjoy a little award", he said and pushed a young woman forward, so everybody could see. She was very beautiful, she had spiky pink hair and she wore a green T-shirt and ripped jeans. Her beautiful face was distorted with fear and horror. She looked familiar and reminded him of someone, but he couldn't quite place who. Men around him started talking, and he heard two men on his right discussing how to share her fairly, and someone whistled.

"Not so fast", Greyback said and talking stopped, "This one here is a special one. She is a very rare shape-shifter, and she can turn into anything you want to."

That explained her hair.

"She can demonstrate", Greyback said when he noticed some of them look doubtful, and one man shouted "make yourself blond!"

She didn't move nor make any effort to obey the demand, "You do like you've been told to do", Greyback kicked her and she fell to the ground, while a few laughed at her. It took all Remus had to not blow his cover, but he restrained himself and didn't even help her get up, when she stayed on the ground.

Greyback kicked her side, probably expecting her to scream, but she stayed quiet, "Get up!", he shouted and she stood up cautiously.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but she is a special prize and she isn't for all of you, just for one man", he watched their faces drop.

"Lupin, this one's for you. I liked what you did back there, I think you've proven your loyalty. Enjoy", and then he kicked her again to make her move forward and this time she didn't fall. Remus nodded at Greyback, stood up, and approached her. To keep his façade believable, he put his arms around her waist and turned her around her back against his chest. He started to nibble her neck in a possessive manner and she shivered, probably disgusted. Remus took hold of her waist, and leaded her away from others. She followed him, not even trying to get away.

They walked in silence to Remus' tent, which was placed skillfully between three big rocks, so you wouldn't see it if you didn't know where it was. It looked small, but it had been charmed to be a lot bigger in the inside. Remus opened a zipper, held the tent's door to the side and gestured a young woman in. She hesitated at first, but went in anyway. He went in right behind her, closed the zipper an turned to look at her. She was in the corner of the tent, curled into a ball. Remus casted an Imperturbable charm around the tent and sat down. He waited for her to say something, and when she didn't, he thought what to say to a young woman who has been kidnapped by a werewolf and was now in the tent with one.

When the silence became overwhelming, he finally broke it, "What's your name?"

She was silent for a moment and then she sniffled, "Why do you need my name? You're going to hurt me anyway", her shoulders began shaking uncontrollably, but she didn't cry.

He was a little taken aback by that. She was probably going to start sobbing soon, and if she did, he had no idea what to do. He was never good with women. Especially if he had to comfort them.

"I'm not going to hurt you", he said and to his relief her shaking subsided slightly. She looked up at him, disbelievingly.

"You're not going to hurt me?" she repeated slowly.

"No."

"Then why did you… do what you did back there?"

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. They're doubting my loyalty to them, so I had to… You know, keep my cover", he said and smiled. He was afraid that he had said too much, but he was just so relieved, that the woman didn't start crying.

"I'm Lupin, by the way", he introduced himself and stretched out his hand for her. She hesitated for a while, but shook it anyway.

"Tonks", she told him and tried to smile.

Remus moved himself so he was now sitting opposite her and watched her intently, "So, who are you? And what are you doing here?"

Tonks looked back at him, doubtfully. "I'm not running around and shouting my full name for strangers, thank you. You didn't tell me your full name either. And you really thought I came here willingly? I'm in the middle of a forest with a group of malicious werewolves and I have no idea where the fuck my wand is", she was now seething. Well, it didn't take long for her temper to come back.

He cringed. "Fair enough. Am I that bad?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment, "No, you're not. I just don't know yet whether to trust you or not."

"I don't expect you to trust me and you don't have to. However, the situation right now is this, you don't know where you are or who you are with and you don't have your wand. Unlike many others here, I still have my wand with me, but I can't give it to you just yet, because I need it myself. Normally when Greyback rewards one of his men, the women are tortured to death or killed on the full moon", he said and waited, expecting Tonks to understand what he had just said.

Tonks turned pale. "Oh. So, you're going to kill me, just like that?"

"I'm not, you silly. If I was going to kill you, I'd have done it already. I'm trying to help you."

She looked surprised, "Help me? But why? Don't get me wrong, of course I'm grateful, but I'm just curious."

Remus ran his hand through his greying hair, "It's… complicated. I don't even know why I'm telling you this, but I don't want to hurt anyone. I think Greyback knows it and he brought you here to… kind of test it."

"He said that you've already proven your loyalty, how?"

Remus squirmed under her inquiring look, "I kind of helped them to burn down one house."

Tonks seemed very upset when he told her this.

"They would have burned it anyway", he quickly muttered under his breath.

She still didn't look convinced, so he let it drop.

"If you despise so much what they're doing, what the hell are you doing here?"

He rubbed his temples, "I'm not telling you. Damn it, I've already said too much, let's just concentrate on how to get you out of here."

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><p><strong>12 Grimmauld Place<strong>

Sirius was sitting in the attic of 12 Grimmauld Place with Buckbeak, feeding the hippogriff with rats. He was bored to death here and he was _Siriusly_ planning an escape from this horrible house.

He chucked the last rat to Buckbeak and got up from the floor. When he made his way to the door, the hippogriff nudged his shoulder, asking for more rats.

"I don't have anything for you, you ate them all", he told the animal and patted it's feathery neck. Then he opened the door and left the room. As he walked slowly downstairs, he pondered where Remus was, and how many weeks he would be on his mission. Sirius was very lonely without him there, and no one except Tonks visited him besides the Order meetings.

When he came to the kitchen, he opened the cupboard and took a bottle of firewhiskey. He sipped it in silence, thinking where the hell that darned house elf of his was. Not that he had something important to tell him, he just wanted to kick something.

When he came to the conclusion that Kreacher wasn't in the kitchen, he started to climb up the stairs. When he reached the hallway, the front door burst open and Kingsley entered, panting. It was raining outside, he was drenched and it seemed that he had been running. Something was wrong. Sirius rushed to his side, Kreacher forgotten, his expression full of worry.

"Kingsley? What happened? What's wrong?" Sirius started throwing him questions, anxious to know what was going on.

"Sirius… Alert the Order… Emergency", Kingsley gasped, trying to catch his breath.

"Emer-! Goddamnit Kingsley, what is it?" Sirius urged and sent his patronus to everyone in the Order before Kingsley got to utter his answer.

Kingsley had finally caught his breath and started to explain, "It's Tonks. I was supposed to patrol in Hogsmeade after her, but when I came to replace her, I couldn't find her! I searched the whole village, to no avail. I found her wand, though. And.. Blood", when he saw Sirius' face pale significantly, he hastily added, "But I'm not sure the blood is hers", but that didn't have any effect on him, he was already panicking.

"Have you informed Dromeda?" Sirius asked him.

"Who?" Kingsley asked, confused.

"Her mother, of course! No one has explained my innocence for her and if I'm sending a patronus for her telling her that her only daughter is missing, it would be downright suspicious, don't you think?"

"I think it would be better to wait for Dumbledore, we don't know for sure if she really is missing…"

Sirius didn't seem to agree, "You found her _wand_ for God's sake! What are we waiting for? She may be _tortured_ somewhere, right now. Or she may be _killed_. If we aren't going to do something and soon, I'm going to go and search her myself."

Kingsley didn't say anything, so they went to the kitchen, waiting for other members to arrive.

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><p>So, I hope you liked it! Please review, reviews make me write faster. :)<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you all for your reviews! :) I'm sorry that I haven't updated for a while, but this is the longest chapter so far, so I hope you like it!

**Warning: Blood**

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the characters.

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><p>"Okay, there are few things you should know about the pack", Remus started, letting Tonks know some important things she should know about.<p>

"First of all, these men are savage - and yes, I'm including myself as one of them -, try to keep that in mind. Earlier Greyback just left us to be on our own, only accompanying us on a full moon. But about a month ago, he started to stay with the pack permanently, not leaving after the full moon, so… It's very difficult, almost impossible to leave the pack without him noticing. So, I thought you could leave on the next full moon, while we are out there doing Merlin knows what. I'll give you my wand the day before the moon, but unfortunately, it's still over three weeks until the next moon, so we have to cooperate for awhile."

Tonks was very confused by his urge to help her, "I still don't get it. You're a stranger, I've known you now for - what? Half an hour? And you're already telling me a plan, which includes you giving your wand for me, just to get me out of here? I'm sorry, but I just can't help but think that you're pulling my leg."

Remus sighed frustrated and ran his hand through his hair, "It doesn't matter."

"Well, it does to me! I'm not completely accustomed to having strangers help me like this, I've been _trained_ to suspect almost everything what people are doing", right after she said this, she thought about her mentor Mad-Eye Moody and the Order, for the first time after coming here. Do they already know she's been captured? Are they worried? What about Sirius? What about her parents, her _mother_? She would be devastated after finding out that her only daughter is missing.

"What are you thinking?", he asked quietly when he noticed her saddened look.

She hesitated first, contemplating whether she should tell him or not. She decided to tell him, "I'm thinking about my parents. I'm their only child, so my mother is no doubt worrying sick about me. She already worries about me every day because of my job. And my friends are probably worried about me too."

"Your whole family is no doubt worrying sick about you", Remus said quietly, his gentle blue eyes looking at her understandingly.

She surprised him when she rolled her dark brown eyes and snorted, "The rest of my family are probably celebrating, hoping for the best that I would be found mauled and dead." There was bitterness in her voice when she said this.

Remus was flabbergasted, astonishment written all over his face. What kind of family would want her dead?

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that", he finally said, when silence became awkward.

"It's alright. It doesn't really matter, they've been like that as long as I remember. I don't really miss them", she said nonchalantly and shrugged.

Tonks tucked piece of her hair behind her ear and looked at him, "By the way, if you really want to help me, why don't you just… Let me go? They didn't follow us here, they won't see anything."

Lupin looked uneasy, "Yeah, about that. You can't escape without your wand, and I need mine for another three weeks. If you're thinking about running, no chance. They would get you and they wouldn't treat you as nicely as I'm treating you now. So, your chances are minuscule. And I can't apparate you away from here, because it would blow my façade and get me captured, tortured or killed."

Tonks sighed sadly, "Point taken."

He let out a wan smile, "Stay close to me when we are around the pack members. They won't hurt you if I'm near, they think you as my… Fortune", he finally said, searching for the right word.

She looked confused, "So, you are telling me to be your _fortune_ for the next three weeks? Uhhuh, no chance. I'm not an _object_ and I don't want to be treated as one."

He groaned, frustrated, "I won't treat you as an _object_ as you gracefully put it, all you have to do is act as I say when there are others watching us."

"But I don't want to. It's humiliating", she said quietly, looking down.

"I'm sorry. I don't like this anymore than you do, but it's something we have to do to avoid suspicion", he looked genuinely sorry.

She looked him in the eyes for awhile, looking defiant. Then she huffed, a sign of surrender, "Fine, I'll do it."

He smiled sincerely, "Thank you."

As silence settled upon them, they just stared at each other, scrutinizing.

Tonks looked at him closely. He was handsome, she had to admit. He had scars on his face and his light brown hair was flecked with gray. She couldn't quite figure out his age, the corners of his eyes were slightly crinkled when he smiled, but he didn't look old. Overall, he looked a lot like the other werewolves in the pack, but there was something behind his eyes that made him differ from them.

As she was observing him, he was observing her. She looked colourful, so full of life. She was very beautiful, so he wasn't surprised at all why Greyback had had his eyes on her.

"So, you're 'a shape-shifter'?" He asked, wanting desperately to know more about her.

She nodded solemnly, "Yeah, I'm a metamorphmagus."

"Oh, I've never met one! So that means you can change your appearance into anything you want to? That is no doubt helpful", he exclaimed, his face beaming with excitement.

"Yeah, it is", she laughed a little. "However, if I was kidnapped because of it, I would give it away anytime", she added silently.

He nodded, "What do you do for a living?"

She looked embarrassed, "I'd rather not tell… If I was good at my job, I wouldn't be here."

"Don't say that, Greyback is cunning. He could take anyone by surprise."

"I know, but I just can't help but think that if I had been more cautious, I wouldn't be here", she sighed and thought about Mad-Eye screaming "Constant vigilance!" in every possible occasion.

When they had talked more, Tonks let out a big yawn, "I'm sorry, but I'm just tired", when she had stopped yawning, she shivered. It was already late, and she still had only her green T-shirt and ripped jeans on.

Remus noticed this, took off his own jacket and offered it to her, "Here, take this. I understand if you don't want to, but it's all I have."

She took it and wrapped it gratefully around her thin shoulders, "Thank you, but now you don't have a jacket. Are you sure you want me to keep it?" She asked, concerned.

"You need it more than I do", he said and shrugged. "Why don't you have any robes with you?"

Tonks frowned, "Of course I had my robes with me! But Greyback made me take them off and leave them to his cottage."

"Oh", was all he could say.

Then he looked slightly bothered, "Speaking of clothes, I only have one bed, one pillow and one blanket. You can have them, I can sleep on the floor", he said and looked at the thin mattress laid on the floor.

Tonks raised her eyebrows, "That's very kind, thank you, but I'm not taking your bed. You already gave me your jacket, I'll be fine. You can take the bed."

He shook his head, "You're the guest, you sleep in the bed. I completely understand if you don't want to, we can try to clean it up a little…"

"No, no, it's fine", she said and agreed to sleep in the bed, just to prove her point.

She looked at the bed and contemplated should she sleep her clothes on. She decided to take off her jeans and sneakers. When she had taken off her sneakers, Lupin politely looked away as she carefully took her jeans off, watching out for scratches on her knees and elbows. When she had crawled to the bed and under the blanket he looked at her again. He took the jacket she had left beside her jeans and wrapped it around himself. Then he placed himself against his rucksack and crossed his arms.

"Night", he said before closing his eyes.

Tonks turned on her side and watched him for a moment. The position he was sleeping didn't look comfortable, he would wake up with a horrible backache in the morning.

"You know, that doesn't look very comfortable", she said and he opened one of his eyes to look at her.

She moved herself to one side of the bed, next to the wall of the tent, while he looked at her questioningly.

She patted the spot beside her, "Come."

His eyes widened in astonishment, when he understood what she meant, "No, that would be inappropriate."

She rolled her eyes, "Come on, don't be such a gentleman. Not that I don't like it, but I'm not going to watch you dealing with your backache in the morning, just because I stole your bed."

He gave her a long, sceptical look. Then he stood up and walked over to the bed.

"Fine", he said finally and took of his trousers and jacket which he had just put on and crawled into the bed beside her, staying as far as possible. The bed wasn't big, so it was a feat that there was over a foot between them.

Tonks just couldn't help but let out a honest laugh the first time after coming to the pack. He watched her confused, "What?"

Her laughs subsided, "I don't bite, you can come closer so you don't have to fall off the bed."

He inched little closer, leaving half a foot between them. They drifted to sleep, both feeling warm despite the coldness outside.

* * *

><p><strong>12 Grimmauld Place<strong>

Sirius was in the kitchen tapping a table with his fingers impatiently, his feet resting on the table. Almost all of the members were in the kitchen whispering to each other and wondering what has happened, except for Minerva and Snape, who couldn't leave Hogwarts when both of them had their own houses to watch in the night. Dumbledore wasn't yet present, and of course Remus and Tonks were missing.

When Dumbledore came from the fireplace, everybody's eyes were on him.

"Good evening, order", he said as he made his way across the kitchen to take his place on the head of the table.

"So, we have emergency. Kingsley, explain us", he said and crossed his long fingers.

Kingsley stood up, "I'm trying to make this quick so we can do what we have to as soon as possible. I was supposed to patrol in Hogsmeade after Tonks, but she wasn't where we were supposed to meet. However, I found her wand and blood", gasps were heard around the kitchen.

"But I'm not sure if the blood is hers", he said, trying to calm them, as he had tried to calm Sirius.

Sirius slammed his fist to the table, making everyone except Dumbledore flinch, "Of course the blood is hers! It isn't plausible that right after somebody bleeds in the forest, Tonks just drops her wand in the _same place_. Wake up! My baby cousin's in trouble! If we're not leaving soon, I'm going without you!" Sirius was practically fuming. He looked like the mass murderer the rest of the Wizarding World thought he was.

Dumbledore looked at Sirius, "Calm down Sirius. Your raging isn't helping us. I suggest we wake Severus up to test if the blood is really Nymphadora's. Sure, I could do it myself, but I trust Severus the most with these kinds of matters", he added when he saw Sirius' face when he mentioned Snape.

"Great, if that bat is concerned about his own health, I'd suggest that he's going to test it _now_,", Sirius blustered.

"I'll send him a word", Dumbledore promised and sent his phoenix patronus to Snape.

Everyone was quiet, waiting for Snape. Sirius stood up and started pacing. He was huffing, clearly frustrated.

When Snape came storming down to the silent kitchen, his long cape winding after him, some of them cringed. His face was cold and emotionless, he didn't look like he was asleep just a moment ago, but he didn't look very pleased to be there either.

Sirius slammed his palms against each other, making a loud slam that echoed around the gloomy kitchen.

"Oh, Snivellus, you're here. We have something to do for you, and you better do it soon", he announced and gave Snape an irreverent look.

Snape ignored Sirius' speech and looked at Dumbledore, "You had an assignment for me, sir."

"Oh yes, Severus. I need you to go to Hogsmeade with Kingsley and make sure that the blood in the forest is Nymphadora's, before we send a message to her mother."

Snape just nodded and turned to leave, Kingsley standing up from his seat to follow him.

To their surprise, Sirius stood up too and turned to follow the two men. When Snape noticed this, he turned around and looked Sirius in the eyes.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, sneering.

"I'm coming with you, of course. You can't keep me here if I'm not willing to cooperate", Sirius answered, like it was obvious.

Everybody looked at Dumbledore, waiting for his opinion. He looked at Sirius for a moment, "I'd rather not let you out, you're risking your own life and others as well, if somebody recognises you. But it's your decision, I can't keep you here if you don't want to."

Sirius grinned joyfully, "Let's go then!" He called out to Kingsley and Severus.

As they arrived to Hogsmeade - Sirius as Padfoot -, Kingsley showed them where he had found Tonks' wand and beside it there was a dried patch of blood. Snape kneeled to collect some of the dried blood to some kind of tube that he took from his pocket, and placed the tube back when he had collected the blood he needed.

"I'm going to do some tests and I need her hair for them. I'm sure you can find some from the headquarters. I'll make the potions we need ready, while you're looking for that hair", he indicated his words for Sirius, who just looked at him distastefully.

Snape said his halfhearted goodbye to Kingsley and then he turned and left to Hogwarts. Kingsley didn't say anything, when he apparated both Sirius and him back to the headquarters.

* * *

><p><strong>Remus &amp; Tonks<strong>

Tonks woke up after few hours of sleep. It was already bright outside and she felt well-rested. She stretched and looked around, panic rising in her when she didn't recognise her surroundings. She started to get up from the bed and her hand hit something warm and solid. When she saw the man sleeping next to her, she calmed down as she recalled the events from last night.

She took her time to study his face. He looked peaceful when he was sleeping and half of the crinkles he had yesterday night were gone. Painful-looking scars were strewn across his handsome face, some of them still fresh from the full moon a few days ago.

Tonks tried to get up from the bed without him noticing, which was very hard because she was squeezed between him and the wall of the tent. She inched slowly but surely to the end of the bed and stood up, triumphant smile on her face. However, when she took her first step, she tripped over her jeans and fell vociferously, scratches on her knees stinging. Lupin was on his feet in a second, wand gripped in his hand. He started to look around frantically, looking for the source of a noise. Then his eyes fell on her and he lowered his wand.

"I'm sorry I woke you up, I didn't mean to! I'm very clumsy, you see and I trip practically over everything, even my own feet-", she stopped her rambling when she saw Lupin look at her, his eyes wide.

"What?" She asked confused and irritated when he just looked and didn't say anything.

Lupin snapped out of his reverie and rushed to her side, looking concerned, "Are you hurt? Do you need anything?", He started asking questions, which made Tonks even more confused.

"What do you mean, I'm-", she stopped again when she noticed what he was looking at. Her fall had lifted her T-shirt, revealing her side, which was full of wide, dark bruises. She raised her hand to touch her side and cringed when she pressed one of the sore bruises.

"I probably got them when Greyback kicked me", she said quietly. He just nodded imperceptibly, his face looking pale.

She turned on her back and lifted her shirt more to check if there was any more damage. Her other side was almost as bad. Lupin noticed her scratches on her elbows and increased ones on her knees, which had opened from her fall and were now bleeding copiously.

He pointed his wand at her knees, "_Ferula_", he muttered and bandages appeared on her bleeding knees.

"Thanks", she mumbled.

Lupin sighed, "Why didn't you tell me you had scratches? I could have healed them."

She crossed her arms, still sitting on the floor, "I didn't know about my bruises, and my scratches weren't bleeding as much as the ones on my knees were a moment ago."

He nodded and turned to look for his trousers. He found them beside Tonks, grabbed them and started to pull them on without saying a word. Then he threw Tonks' jeans for her, "Dress up, we're going to grab some breakfast."

She pulled her jeans on, "Great! What do we have for breakfast?", She inquired Lupin, who was tying his shoelaces.

He straightened up and ran his hand through his hair, "I… Don't know. What would you like? I don't have a lot of muggle money with me and I don't know where the nearest shop is."

She looked confused, "If you don't know where the nearest shop is and you don't have much muggle money, what do you eat with the pack?"

Lupin avoided her eyes and looked at his hands, "We don't buy our food from muggles."

Her eyes widened and she seemed repulsed, "Do you steal it?"

"No! I mean… Some of us do, occasionally, but I don't."

She was confused, "Then how do you get your food?"

"Greyback and few other men from our pack capture it for us", he explained and looked at her, waiting for her to understand what he had just said.

"Oh", she said and stepped in her sneakers. "How do you cook it?", She suddenly asked and crouched to tie her shoelaces.

Lupin looked extremely uncomfortable, "We… Don't cook it. At all. Just raw meat and blood", he said ashamed and turned his back for her. She stopped tying her shoelaces to look at him, but he wouldn't turn and meet her eyes, fearing that the knowledge would be too much for her.

Silence settled over them, and when neither spoke, Tonks just continued to tie her laces. Then she stood up an walked over to him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not judging you, okay? It doesn't mean _anything_ what you _eat_ with them, why would I care? Sure, I don't have guts to eat raw meat, but I'm not a werewolf. Come on, let's go and get some breakfast", she told him and turned him around, smiling. He just looked at her for a while and then he smiled, too.

When Tonks went to open the zipper so they could get out, Lupin grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She raised her eyebrow and looked at him questioningly.

He spoke quickly, "Remember, we have to act like I'm a perverted old man, taking advantage of a beautiful young woman. Act like you've had a horrible night, like we didn't just sleep. And I apologise beforehand, if I do something you don't like. I'm not sure how we can persuade Greyback to let us out of the pack to get some food, but we can always try", she blushed when he called her beautiful and nodded.

"Okay, let's go", he said and they crawled out of the tent.

Lupin put a hand around her waist, when they approached the voices coming from the clearing. When they came to the clearing, there was a bloody object in the middle of it and all the men were gathered around it. To her utter horror, she realized that it was a _deer_ and they were feeding from it. It took all she had not to gag.

Greyback was the first to notice them and his bloody mouth smirked evilly.

"Morning, Lupin! Did you enjoy your night?", He asked, getting the others stare at them as well.

Lupin acted like they had compromised and snaked his both arms around her tender waist, "Very much, thank you", he growled at Greyback.

One of the men who had consulted how they should share her, stood up, "Hey Lupin! Are you willing to share?", He asked and looked at her hopefully.

Lupin let out an angry snarl, which made him retreat, "No, I'm not. I'll tell you if I am", he hissed and tightened his grip on her waist, causing her to whimper because of her bruises.

Greyback noticed this and his eyes started to shine with malicious glee, "Good job, Lupin. I'm proud of you, you handle her well."

Lupin understood what caused Greyback's sudden praise and loosened his grip immediately, looking at Tonks apologetically.

Then he turned his gaze back to Greyback, "I'd like to keep her until the next full moon, but she can't eat raw meat. I'm asking your permission to go to the muggle village nearby and get her some food, so I can enjoy her company as long as possible", Lupin stated very believably.

The men fell silent. Greyback just looked at them, not even blinking his eyes. Then he started to rub his chin, "Well, go then. But remember this, Lupin. Considering your past with wizards, I don't fully trust you. You have an hour, and if you and your girlfriend aren't back by then, I'll hunt you both down and I won't rest before I've found you. Understand?"

Lupin bowed his head, swallowing, "Yes, I do."

"Good. Then go", Greyback said and waved them away.

Lupin walked her away from the others and apparated them to the muggle village.

* * *

><p>Please review and let me know what you think! ^^<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Hi all! First of all, thank you all for reviewing, you're the best! I apologise that this chapter took so long to write, I've been very busy lately. :/ I just want to let you know, that I have a huge inspiration for this story and it feels great to finally update this story. :) This is the longest chapter so far and I hope that next chapters are at least this long. :D Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the characters.

* * *

><p>Right after they appeared to a forest next to the village, Lupin took his hand from her waist like it was burning him and started apologising profusely, while pulling his hair out of his scalp.<p>

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to! Did I hurt you? I-", he stopped his rambling when Tonks laughed. He looked very confused, "I don't see anything funny about this…" he muttered, frowning.

Tonks' laughs subsided, "Forgive me, you just look so funny when you're rambling like that. Of course I'm fine, it's just a bruise. Stop worrying about it, no harm done."

He just huffed and turned his head to look at the village through trees, then he turned back to her, "I'm sorry, I don't know the village at all, so we have to search for grocery shop or bakery, hopefully this village has a few", he added wryly.

Tonks just shrugged, "Well, we'll see. Let's go then", she tried to walk towards buildings which could be seen from their current spot, but she was stopped when he grabbed her arm.

"What now?" She asked irritated, eager to go to the village.

"Umm… There are wizards living in this village, that's why our pack is located so close to it. I've been here only twice as human", he paused to look at her, "so I don't know if there are many of us. I thought it would be better if you'd morph, in case somebody recognises you."

She stayed quiet, thinking about it. Then she nodded, "Well, do you want a hag or a blond?" She asked him and grinned mischievously.

Lupin shrugged, "It doesn't matter, just try to figure out something."

Her eyes gleamed as she started to morph. She morphed her eyes blue, her lips fuller and grew her hair long and waist-length, turning it to blond. She got slightly taller and her already curvy frame started to get even more curvier and he tried not to notice how her breasts got bigger…

When he looked at her again, he couldn't believe his eyes. Before him stood an attractive woman and if he wouldn't have known better, he would have mistaken her as a veela. Even though she was beautiful now, he found himself preferring the real her.

Her green T-shirt was a little too small for her new form.

"Do you have your wand?" Tonks asked him.

He nodded.

"Good. Can you lend it for me for a minute, please?"

Lupin took his wand from his pocket and handed it to her.

She made her T-shirt slightly bigger and changed it's colour from green to pink.

When she was finished, she looked up at Lupin for his comment, but he just gawked.

"Thank you", she said and placed his wand back where he had taken it, then she backed away and spun around, waiting for him to say something. When he didn't, she waved her hand in front of his face and he snapped out of his reverie.

"Well? What do you think?" She asked, eager to hear his opinion.

"Uh… Well…", he stuttered.

"You don't like it?", She asked, trying to hide disappointment from her face.

"No! I mean, yes, I like it. You're gorgeous. I'm just wondering what our cover will be this time, if someone comes to talk to us. We're so… _Mismatched_ that people can't help but notice us", he explained.

Tonks scratched her chin, thinking over what he had just said, "Well, then we'll figure something out! I think it's very unlikely that somebody will talk to us, let alone ask about our past together."

"True… But we can never be sure."

"Oh come on, relax a little and have some fun!" She flied towards the buildings and he had to walk fast to keep up with her.

Tonks stopped and looked around empty streets. Lupin appeared next to her, "I don't get how you can have some _fun_ when Greyback wants us dead if we're late. Seriously."

She glared at him, crossing her arms, "I can sulk too, if you don't like that I'm cheerful. And that won't help us at all, so I don't see what the problem is", she said and made her way to streets, looking for shops.

He followed her, letting her lead the way. Most of residents of the village were still probably sleeping, they saw only a few people passing them on streets.

When they had roamed streets in silence for a while, Tonks stopped abruptly and was about to say something, but Lupin ran into her, making her fall over. However before she hit the ground, Lupin seized his arms around her waist and steadied her.

"Sorry. Why did you stop?", he asked.

"It's okay. I just thought we could visit that coffee shop over there to see if it holds something suitable for breakfast", she spoke and pointed her finger towards the shop in question.

They made their way towards the shop and stopped in front of it. A huge "OPEN" label was hanging sideways on the door. Tonks entered the shop and Lupin stayed behind to look at the prices on the window.

She stepped in and heard a bell ring above her head. She looked around, the coffee shop wasn't very large, there were only three tables for customers and a counter. There wasn't anyone behind the counter, only one young man around his twenties reading a newspaper at one of the tables. His eyes almost bulged out of their sockets when he heard the bell rang and saw her. She had to stifle a laugh, his face was priceless. He hastily stood up, combed his dirty blond hair with his fingers and hastened behind the counter.

He smiled broadly, "Good morning, beauty! How can I help you?" He asked politely and leaned on the counter.

Tonks looked at cakes and sandwiches laid on the counter and managed a smile, "Morning! My friend is just outside, I think I'd better wait for him to come in before I order anything."

"That's okay, love", he said.

A silence settled upon them.

"What are you doing tonight, by the way?" He inquired.

"Probably nothing. Why?" She asked, confused.

He rubbed his neck, "I just thought that if you could grab a cup of coffee with me tonight?"

_Oh_. She didn't want to be rude, but she didn't just feel like going out with a stranger. Besides, she was kidnapped so it wasn't even possible.

Just when she was about to answer, Lupin stepped in and an idea struck her.

"There you are, darling! I was just wondering where you were", Tonks wrapped her arms around his middle and kissed him on the cheek. Lupin stiffened and looked down at her flabbergasted, trying to read her expression. She just smiled serenely, so he decided to play along.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting", he said, so that the young man could hear it and his cheeks turned red.

"Oh… Uhmm… So, what would you like?" The young man stuttered. Tonks looked at Lupin expectingly.

"Two cups of coffee and two sandwiches, please."

The young man took two sandwiches from behind the glass of the counter and placed them on the counter, "Are you eating here?"

They looked at each other, "No, we're taking them with us", Lupin spoke. He wanted to discuss things with Tonks and he couldn't do it if he had to watch his mouth all the time because somebody was listening.

The young man seemed a little disappointed as he packed their coffees to the cups made of paper. Lupin paid for their purchases and they thanked him. When they had two paper bags with them and they were about to leave, the young man called after Tonks.

"Hey, I never got your name."

Tonks turned around, thinking about the first muggle name that came to her mind, "Lizzie."

He grinned widely, "I'm Colin".

"It was nice to meet you", she said and smiled. Then she turned around and followed Lupin out.

"Well, that was interesting", he said when they had walked away from the coffee shop.

Tonks shrugged, "He was asking me out, so I had to figure something out. Luckily, you stepped in", she smirked mischievously.

Lupin managed a laugh, "Lizzie, really?"

She shook her head, "Unfortunately, no."

He raised his eyebrows, "Unfortunately?"

Tonks nodded, "I didn't tell you my first name only because I'm not telling it to strangers, I _hate_ my first name, I'd say I absolutely loathe it. Everybody calls me Tonks, even my friends. My mum is an exception, she refuses to call me anything but my first name."

"Okay. So what's your name?" He asked, curiosity filling him.

She laughed, "Haha, nice try, but I'm not telling you. It's not like I'd let you use it."

They stopped by a bench seated under two oak trees. Lupin sat down and patted the seat next to him. Tonks sat down and he placed paper bags between them. She opened one of them and grabbed her sandwich and a cup of coffee. She popped the top of the cup open and took a swig. Then she grabbed her sandwich from the paper bag and started munching it happily. She glanced at Lupin and noticed that he hadn't even touched his own bag after placing it between them. He was just looking at her while she ate.

"Why you're not eating?" She asked him and took another bite.

He shrugged and grabbed his own sandwich. They ate in silence, both enjoying their breakfast.

Tonks sipped her coffee as she watched Lupin, "How did you end up with them?" She suddenly asked.

Lupin took his time thinking about what he'd answer her, chewing a piece of sandwich slowly.

He swallowed, "I had to, though, I had a choice. The end of the story. There isn't much to talk about. Trust me, I'd leave as fast as I could if I had something, anything better to do, but I don't, so I'm here. Otherwise I'd be pretty useless."

Tonks thought about his answer, not fully understanding it, but from his tone of voice she knew she couldn't get any better answer from him, so she let it drop.

She finished her cup of coffee and sandwich before him, so she crossed her legs and waited for him. She placed her empty cup on the bench between them and placed the sandwich's wrap on the bottom of the cup, just to kill her time.

Soon after Lupin finished and followed her example with his cup and wrap, then he stood up and took them to a trash can nearby and she stood up to follow him. He wiped his palms to the front of his trousers discreetly.

"How much time we have left?" Tonks asked him as they continued their aimless walk in the village.

He lifted his sleeve to check his watch, "We were fast, we still have half an hour. I don't want to go back just yet and I believe you somewhat agree with me."

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm in no rush to get back there."

"So, where do you want to go?"

"I don't really know. I've never been here, so I don't know the area."

"I can't say I do, either."

"Let's take a look around, shall we? I think it would be wise to watch for other shops, I'd rather not show my face again in there", she said and pointed her thumb at the direction they came from.

He smiled, "You could always morph", she rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of our next meals, I really need to get more money from my vault in Gringotts. I only have enough for a couple of days", he spoke and put his hands deep in his pockets.

"I can pay for them, really. Come, we'll get some money from my apartment and-", she stopped abruptly when he shook his head.

"And why not?" Tonks demanded.

"Wouldn't that be _a little_ suspicious, if you're missing and somebody randomly just pops up in your apartment, looking for some money? The place is probably crowded with aurors, looking for some clue where you might be. If you're thinking about Gringotts, you need your key. I suppose you don't have it?"

Tonks patted her pockets, searching for a lump that would tell her that she had her key with her.

Nothing.

She shook her head.

"I thought so", Lupin said and continued walking. She followed him.

"So, that's the first thing we do when we get away from Greyback again", he said when she reached him.

"Are you sure we have time to go to Gringotts _and_ get some lunch in an hour?" She asked sceptically. It usually took some time when you visited Diagon Alley, not to mention got something to eat and visited Gringotts.

He shrugged, "I'm not sure. If there are plenty of people in Diagon Alley and Gringotts, we might not have enough time for both, but let's not worry about that now, we still have time to think about it."

Tonks nodded. She kicked a pebble on the cobblestone street and watched one chubby woman open her bakery. The village was waking up, and there were more people roaming around in streets. People were talking and greeting each other happily. Although she was sort of kidnapped, she had to admit she enjoyed their little walk in the village and seeing so many muggles doing their everyday duties, so oblivious to the fact that there were such things as magic and werewolves.

Unconsciously, she entwined their fingers together, just a friendly gesture. Lupin was surprised when her soft hand grasped his rough one. No one had held his hand in such a long time and it felt kind of comforting.

So he just held her hand tight and continued their walk.

* * *

><p><strong>12 Grimmauld Place<strong>

Sirius and Kingsley appeared to the apparation point under trees, safe from the eyes of muggles. They scurried quickly across the street to the front door - Sirius still in his dog form - and opened it. There were no voices from the basement kitchen, which meant Dumbledore had ended the meeting when they had left. Once they were in, Kingley closed the door behind them and Sirius turned into human. He started speaking immediately.

"Oh bugger. She doesn't have anything that could contain her hair in here! And I think it isn't very wise to just go and search her flat, either; we might die in there! Mad-Eye the old codger has probably placed some wards in there that would set of the alarm," He huffed and rubbed his temples.

"Let's ask Andromeda?" Kingsley suggested.

Sirius shook his head, "Have you ever met her? She's a lot like Bellatrix when she's angry, if you get what I mean. 'Hey, it's Sirius Black, your convicted murder of a cousin! We just decided to pay a visit to search for your daughter's hair for a little testing, because dear old Snivellus asked us to. We're about to test if the blood we found is really hers and if she really is kidnapped, or better, _dead_', It's going to be a lovely visit for sure. I'd be glad if I still had all my limbs with me after that."

"You're a cheery one", Kingsley's deep voice spoke.

Sirius grinned joylessly.

"I can look for her hair in her cubicle in the Auror Department, but I won't promise that I'll find anything."

Sirius' eyes lit up significantly, "I'd be really grateful, thank you Kingsley."

"No need to thank me, I worry about her too. It's the first thing I do tomorrow when I go to the Auror Department, I promise."

Sirius nodded and Kingsley opened the door and left. Sirius was all alone again, only dead heads of house-elves as his company. When he looked miserably at them, they almost seemed like they were mocking him. He grunted angrily and went to the kitchen, looking for firewhiskey.

* * *

><p><strong>Remus &amp; Tonks<strong>

Lupin and Tonks apparated back to the clearing where they had left almost an hour ago. They still had had ten minutes before it was necessary to get back, but they wanted to be back ahead of time, just in case.

"Oh, there you are!" The man called out. He was exactly the same one, who was interested to 'share her' with Lupin. He had dark brown hair, scars all over his face like everybody else in there, his beard was scruffy and his clothes were worn and dirty. She tried to keep disgust from her face and hoped she succeed when he watched her new appearance appreciatively.

"Greyback left just about ten minutes ago, told me to look for you", he announced, his voice filled with pride that Greyback had given him such a major assignment.

He nodded, "We're here now, so you can probably go now."

The man shrugged, "Yeah. Pity, really. It was almost entertaining to have _something_ to do. I was ordered to stay here, so I don't really know where the others are. Somewhere nearby, I guess", he said and crossed his arms behind his neck. Then he glimpsed at Tonks and grinned, "Damn you Lupin. What did you do to deserve Greyback's gratefulness?"

Tonks resisted the urge to roll her eyes and Lupin just grinned smugly. She had to admit, he was pretty good acting his role in their little show.

"See you later", he waved and left.

When he was out of sight, Tonks turned to Lupin, "Dear Merlin, are you all like that?"

Lupin frowned, "What do you mean 'like that'?"

"I mean do you all drool over everything that has breasts?"

He blushed at the mention of breasts. Quite a gentleman he was, it was kind of cute, really, "Umm… I hope I'm not like that, but pretty much, yes, some more some less. They rarely see any women. But some of them are decent, really. That was Thomson you just met, it seems that he is one of the worst, but otherwise he's okay."

Tonks morphed back to her normal self with bubblegum pink hair. The originally green, now pink T-shirt was now too big for her, but she didn't mind.

"We have plenty of time now. We can go back to our tent or follow him and see where the others are. They're pretty harmless to you when you're with me, more brutal ones are in their own little groups farther away.", Lupin said.

Tonks contemplated for a moment, "I think I'm too curious to just sit in our tent", she stated and smirked.

He raised his eyebrows, not really surprised, "Follow me", he took her hand to show her the way, but just after few steps she stumbled and he had to seize his hand around her middle to keep her from falling. She winced when his hand grasped one of her bruises, but it was bearable if the other option was falling.

Lupin noticed her wince, steadied her and took his hands away from her middle immediately when he was sure she wouldn't fall again.

"I'm sorry I hurt you again", he muttered, ashamed.

She crossed her arms, "I was about to say 'thank you for keeping me from falling'. Really, if you'd had let me fall, it would've been much worse. No need to apologise, you didn't do it intentionally."

He still looked ashamed, but she let him be. He was so… _Different_ than the others. He clearly didn't belong here and she was seriously contemplating dragging him away from here with her when she had a chance. If she had a chance.

"You're different", she voiced her thoughts when they continued their walk.

He chuckled slightly, "Is that so?"

"Yes it is! I'm honestly truly grateful that Greyback chose to chuck me to you", the words just came from her mouth, they were all very true, but she hadn't meant to say them out loud.

Lupin smiled gratefully, not really sure what to answer to such a compliment.

Tonks was about to trip again, but she managed to grip his arm just in time. Lupin started to laugh.

"Not funny!" She pouted.

"Forgive me. Are you always like this?" He managed to say between his chuckles.

"Yes, I am. I deal with it every day. It's a common joke in my work."

"Oh, I see", he spoke, still grinning.

They approached a lean-to, which was built between two trees. In front of it were three men who lifted their gazes when they saw them coming closer. Tonks recognised the first one as Thomson whom she had just met and the second man who had talked with Thomson when she arrived for the first time with Greyback yesterday night. The third man she couldn't recall.

"Hello Lupin! So you decided to join us", said the man whom she had seen yesterday.

"Yes. I fancied a little chat", Lupin answered and sat down near the others.

Tonks was still standing, pondering how far she should sit from Lupin so their little act wouldn't be so obvious. She walked over and sat down two feet from him.

"So, how is it going?" The man asked and gestured to her with his gaze.

Lupin glanced at her and responded, "Good, actually. I just hope that Greyback will let us to the village again, she can't eat raw meat."

He nodded, understanding, "So, you're a shape-shifter?" He inquired, indicating his words for Tonks, "I'm Smith, by the way."

She glimpsed Lupin quickly. 'A shape-shifter'? The shape-shifter ability _has_ a name. She couldn't blame them for their ignorance though; metamorphmagi are very rare. Lupin looked back at her, waiting.

"Umm… Yeah", she replied, not really sure what else to say. Her voice trembled slightly and Tonks had to admit that she was a bit afraid of them. She felt safe with Lupin, but without her wand she also felt very exposed.

"No need to be afraid, we won't bite", the one who had introduced himself as Smith said and grinned. He had curly, light brown hair and his originally white shirt had stains. He seemed joyful, but she was still cautious.

"How does it work?" Smith continued.

She decided to answer him properly, "I was born as a metamorphmagus. You can't learn to be one."

"And you can change your appearance, just like that?"

"Yeah", she responded.

"Show us", he requested.

She didn't like to take requests from strangers, it made her feel like an object. But she didn't really see reason why she should refuse, they were all watching her.

"Oh… Well, what would you like to see?"

"Show them the blond one you had when you arrived", requested Thomson.

Tonks morphed herself like she had when they were in the village with Lupin. However, she morphed only her facial features; she didn't want to give them something to ogle at.

"That's great!" Smith exclaimed.

The third man, who had been quiet until now, walked over her promptly. She backed away instinctively, startled and hit something warm and solid. She had backed away straight to Lupin's lap. She turned her shocked face to look at him, but he just watched her expression amused.

The man who had approached her burst out laughing. He was the roughest-looking of all of them and he had a particularly nasty-looking, large scar on the left side of his face.

She unconsciously hugged his middle, scared of the outburst of the strange man.

"Lupin, you sly old dog! You've got yourself a new girlfriend!" The three men laughed when Lupin turned deep red and Tonks hurried from his lap.

* * *

><p>Please review and let me know what you think! :)<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Hello and Happy Christmas to everyone! :D Here's a new chapter for you, my chapters are getting longer and longer, this is the biggest so far (I say that in the beginning of every chapter, but well..)

Eventhough I may seem slow, I'd like to update this story more frequently than I am now. In the next few weeks I have a lot more time to write than I've had lately, so I hope I'm able to update a new chapter again in few weeks. :)

**I want to thank ALL of you that have reviewed, favourited or alerted this story, it means a lot to me! *hug***

I hope you enjoy the fifth chapter!

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the characters.

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><p>"What was that?" Tonks demanded angrily, when the three men stopped laughing.<p>

"He does that to almost all the new ones, just giving a nice scare", Smith smirked as the rough-looking man glared him.

"His name is Mason. He doesn't talk much, and he is the newest of us", Smith continued, speaking like the man named Mason wasn't listening. He just grunted, and the sound reminded her of Mad-Eye.

"Lupin is the oldest… Well, not the oldest, technically, he's just been werewolf the longest of us", Thomson said, unconcerned about Lupin's uneasiness.

She felt sorry for him. He clearly didn't want to talk about his lycanthropy, he seemed ashamed of it. The others didn't seem to mind telling her about their lycanthropy.

When they had listened their conversations for a while, Lupin stood up and offered his hand for Tonks to help her up. Tonks took it and stood up.

"I think we are leaving for my tent for now. See you later", he said as he placed his hand on her lower back and nudged her forward.

"Bye Lupin! Have fun", Thomson smirked as Mason and Smith muttered their half-hearted byes.

They walked in silence and when the others were out of sight, Lupin looked at her but didn't take his hand away from her back, "I'm genuinely sorry about your reputation here…" He started, but she cut him off.

"It's okay, really. I don't care what they think we do when they're not seeing us", she spoke and shrugged nonchalantly.

"I just wanted you to know that I don't want to make you feel humiliated", he muttered quietly.

Tonks lowered her gaze, looking at her feet, "You're different."

Lupin's head snapped up to look at her, but she kept her eyes on her combat boots.

"What do you mean 'different'?" He demanded.

She shrugged, "I don't know. You just are."

Silence settled upon them. They reached their tent and climbed in, Tonks sat down in the corner of the tent and Lupin stayed near the door, closing the zipper. She waited him to start a conversation. He casted an Imperturbable charm around the tent like he had done yesterday evening and turned to look at her.

"So, about our trip to Diagon Alley", he started. Tonks looked at him, expecting him to continue.

"I think… We may have to split up when we get there. I'm a familiar face in Diagon Alley, and I'd rather visit my vault alone", he told her, waiting for her reaction. The real reason he wanted to visit his vault alone was that his vault was almost empty. He didn't want anyone to see how poor he really was and all that was left from his Hogwarts' salary was a few galleons.

She looked confused, "But… What makes you think I would come back? How do you know?"

Lupin rubbed his temples, "I don't. That's why I have to trust you. I'm as good as dead if I'm not coming back with you. Please, promise me that you won't run away?" He reached for her hand and held it between his hands. It felt incredibly soft between his rough ones.

Her eyes locked with his, "Okay, I won't."

He retreated a little, "You sure?" He asked sceptically.

She nodded. His face split into a wide grin.

* * *

><p><strong>Auror Office<strong>

The sun had just rose as Kingsley Shacklebolt walked through the Auror Office. Only few people passed him as he made his way quietly to the door of Tonks' cubicle. He looked around quickly and when he was sure that no one saw him, he slipped through the door.

Tonks' cubicle mirrored her personality well. Normally cubicles were plain and dull, because the Ministry wanted them that way, but Tonks has somehow managed to fill her cubicle's walls with posters, most of them presenting Weird Sisters.

Kingsley looked around for that could include her hair. On her desk there was a bottle of ink, quills, parchments, a lamp, a wireless and a photograph of her and her friends during their seventh year in Hogwarts.

He didn't want to intrude her privacy, but he didn't have any other choice. He silently broke the enchantments on her locked drawers and opened them slowly, looking for a brush or a comb.

After three drawers of letters, notes and photographs, he opened the fourth drawer and grinned triumphantly. There was a comb, and in a comb there was few strands of pink hair. He shoved the comb deep in his pocket, locked the drawers again and left the cubicle, making sure no one saw him. Then he made his way promptly to the Atrium so he could leave to Grimmauld Place.

* * *

><p><strong>12 Grimmauld Place<strong>

Sirius was once again in the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place. He was opening cupboards with little too much enthusiasm and then banging them closed with fierce force. His hands were shaking, he hadn't slept for days and he couldn't find any firewhiskey to drown his problems. He had way too much time to think in that blasted dingy kitchen of his, where he spent most of his time, because he didn't have anything better to do.

After searching the last cupboard of his kitchen entirely, he slammed the door shut as much force he could muster. Sirius had turned the entire kitchen upside down, but he hadn't found firewhiskey or anything else strong enough. He couldn't even find _butterbeer_, not that it could've helped him, he couldn't get drunk enough with only butterbeer.

Sirius slumped to the nearest chair, his elbows leaning on his knees, his hands clutching his head desperately. He almost laughed to the absurdity of it all, he had spent 12 _years_ in Azkaban and somehow managed to keep his sanity. But now, he was locked up again, this time in his childhood home and he was already losing his mind. He hadn't even spent a month there and he was already going bonkers.

His thoughts were interrupted when there was a slam of door upstairs. Sirius was already on his feet, sprinting up from the basement kitchen, grateful for the distraction.

When he got to the landing, he saw Kingsley, smiling triumphantly.

"Morning, Kingsley! Did you find anything?" Sirius asked, though he figured it our from the way Kingsley was smiling.

"Yes, I did. I found her comb", Kingsley answered, pushing his hand deep in his pocket to find a comb with pink strands of hair. He handed it to Sirius and he took it, grasping it in his hand firmly.

"Thank you, Kingsley. Do you mind staying over for a while? Firewhiskey's run out, but I can boil some tea if you like", Sirius' eyes lit up at the thought that he would have some company for the next few minutes.

Kingsley looked at him apologetically, "I'm sorry, Sirius, but I have to get back straight away. I'm supposed to be working right now."

"Oh", Sirius said and tried to hide his disappointment from his face, "well, see you later."

"See you", Kingsley said and left.

Sirius was alone again. He looked at the comb he was holding and descended the stairs to go to the kitchen again.

* * *

><p><strong>Remus &amp; Tonks<strong>

"What do you honestly think about all of this?" Tonks asked, after they had had a few conversations about their pasts before they came here.

"Honestly?" Lupin frowned and contemplated what to say for a moment.

"I hate it in here", he finally spoke.

Tonks furrowed, "I'm sorry, but I don't get it. I know I already asked you about this yesterday night when I came here, but you didn't answer me. _What_ are you doing here? You could just apparate away if you wanted."

"I can't tell you", Lupin said simply, his tone telling her that he wasn't going to say anything else.

"Why?" Tonks inquired.

"Maybe I can't afford to stay anywhere else", He spoke, inventing an excuse promptly and sounding slightly irritated.

She opened her mouth to reply him, but he spoke before she managed to utter a word, "Just drop it. I'm not going to tell you anything else."

She was a little taken aback by that, "But… I thought you trusted me?"

"I do. Believe me, I do, but it's something that I can't tell you."

Silence settled upon them.

Lupin broke it by opening the zipper and indicating her to go out. She slipped through the door and he came after her, closing the zipper again.

"Where are we going?" Tonks questioned as he turned to her.

"We're going to ask a permission to leave again to the village for a lunch. I don't know how many times a day he will let us out, but I think he won't be too pleased to hear that we want to go again", he muttered as he nudged her forward.

"Are we going to Diagon Alley?" She asked enthusiastically, corners of her mouth twitching into a smile.

"Maybe. Provided that we have time", he said and grinned at her enthusiasm.

They found Greyback and others gathered in a clearing. The others fell silent as they watched them approach.

"Ah, Lupin and his girlfriend. So you decided to join us, huh? We were just about to leave to hunt", Greyback told them as they came to a halt.

Lupin attempted to smile, but failed miserably, "Actually, we're here to ask permission to leave again", he wasn't sure how he was going to react, so he looked at his feet.

There was a silence.

The corners of Greyback's mouth twitched to a wicked smile that revealed his yellow teeth.

"I see. Well, you should go then."

Lupin's brows shot up as he was unable to hide his surprise. There was something suspicious in Greyback's eyes when he said this, but Lupin didn't really pay attention. He had his permission and that was enough, so he nodded his thanks and wrapped his arm around Tonks' slender waist, so he could apparate them away.

However, just when his arm touched her skin, Greyback spoke.

"No, no Lupin. I think you misunderstood me. _You_ can go, but she's staying with us."

Tonks looked up at Lupin, and he saw utter horror in her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. His arm squeezed her waist protectively as an instinct, forgetting about her bruises for a moment. Lupin didn't know what to do, he didn't want to leave her with a pack of feral werewolves and Greyback, Merlin knows what they might do to her. On the other hand, he wouldn't let her starve, he had to get her some food eventually and if it was going to be like this, better sooner or later.

Greyback did the decision for him, "You have ten minutes, Lupin. Get your little human something to eat, otherwise she will starve, because I'm not letting you out again for anytime soon. Be back on time."

Reluctantly, Lupin let go of her. Her eyes were wide in utter horror and they pleaded him to help her, it was unbearable to just leave her here. He tried to tell her through his eyes how sorry he was for leaving her here, but he didn't really have a choice on that matter.

He turned to leave.

"I'm still not willing to share", he called over his shoulder, he was able to scare the others away a little, but Greyback was uncharitable when he wanted something.

"Don't worry, they'll share her only if you're late" Greyback said, and Lupin noted that he wasn't speaking about himself in the same sentence.

"Oh, by the way Lupin. You're joining our dinner tonight", Greyback spoke just before Lupin glanced quickly at Tonks and apparated away.

* * *

><p><strong>12 Grimmauld Place<strong>

Sirius had moved from kitchen to the third floor, looking for something to keep him occupied. He knew that it wasn't really a good idea, Merlin knows what his dear mother had hidden in the bloody house.

When he had found a cupboard full of pixies, plenty of moths and a boggart, he gave up before he came across something much worse. He made his way down the stairs lazily, dragging his feet. He was about to descend the stairs to the kitchen, when somebody came through the front door.

To his utter displeasure, it was Snivellus himself. Sirius was about to retort that his hair looked much greasier than usual, but the insult died in his mouth when he noticed that he was carrying a cauldron full of something suspicious. He recalled why Snivellus was there and forgot to sneer at him.

Snape's dull voice spoke, "Do you have her hair?"

Sirius clutched the comb in his pocket, "Yeah, I do."

"Good", Snape mumbled and descended the stairs to the kitchen, his black cloak winding behind him. Without a word, Sirius followed him.

Snape placed the cauldron on the huge oak table. Then he seized the vial with the blood from his pocket. He raised it on the same level with his eyes and tapped it with his pale and long fingers to detach the blood from the walls of the vial. Then he tipped it to the cauldron full of something grayish and sticky. To Sirius it looked like glue with a weird colour, but the contents of the cauldron hissed and smoked when dried blood hit it's surface.

"Add the hair", Snape said, guiding Sirius.

Sirius was irritated that of all people _Snape_ was guiding him, but he didn't figure out anything witty to retort him. He didn't have a huge desire to insult him, anyway. If this was working, it would help him to find his cousin, so he took the comb from his pocket, took one hair and added it to the cauldron.

"What now?" Sirius asked, when the concoction hissed and started smoking thick, grey smoke.

"We'll wait", Snape stated curtly.

"Wait for what?" Sirius asked again, impatient to wait for anything.

"For the smoke to change colour, _naturally_. If the smoke turns lighter grey after our wait, it's negative, but if it turns dark grey, almost black, the blood is Nymphadora's", his annoying monotone tone was getting on Sirius' nerves, and he tried his best not to say anything so he didn't have to hear his boring voice start talking again.

They watched in silence as smoke swirled out of cauldron. Snape pulled a hourglass from his pocket and placed it next to the cauldron.

"What's that for?" Sirius sneered.

"The hourglass will tell us when we can be certain that the test is ready, _of course_", Snape sneered back at him.

"No need to be such a smartass, _Snivellus_", Sirius muttered, urging him to argue with him, but Snape ignored him.

They waited in silence as sand moved in the hourglass, from the top to the bottom. Smoke from the cauldron was changing it's shade of colour all the time. Sirius watched as it changed colour from grey to lighter grey, almost white and he was about to holler in delight, when it suddenly changed it's shade again. Smoke was darkening, from almost white to darker grey and then to pitch black. Sirius' face fell.

Sirius glared at swirling smoke, daring it to go lighter again to no avail.

Just then all sand in the hourglass was on the bottom. Smoke kept it's current shade of black.

Sirius glanced at Snape, making sure that he had understood right and the test had ended. Snape was always serious, but now his pale face seemed more grave.

Sirius paled significantly, it was just what they had feared. Somebody had captured Nymphadora and hurt her during her capture.

* * *

><p><strong>Remus<strong>

Remus appeared to the edge of the village and immediately started running towards it like a madman. He wanted to be as quick as possible, the less time Tonks had to be alone with the wolves, the better.

Remus slowed his pace to a quick walk as he pushed his hand deep in his pocket and seized the last money he had left. He laid them on his hand and counted them. Two sickles and some muggle money. He wasn't sure what he could buy with it, but it _had to be _enough.

He rushed to the nearest convenience store and gathered four sandwiches and two bottles of water in his arms. When he got to the counter, there were three people before him on the line, one older lady who was about to feed the whole village of people judging from the amount of food she was buying, one twenty-something old guy with two six packs of beer and an old man with only toothpaste. Remus glanced at his wrist watch, he had already spent three and a half minutes of his precious time. He could never be fast enough, if he had to wait that these three people were done with their buyings.

It took _forever_ for the older lady to get all her buyings in plastic bags and out of the store. He checked his wrist watch again. He had two minutes left and he still had to wait for two customers to pay.

Hopeless.

"Excuse me", he said to the two men before him, "I'm in a hurry, so is it possible that I can pay before you, please?"

The two men looked at each other, but they didn't say anything for a few seconds.

The old man looked at him and nodded his acceptance. The younger man followed the example and they let him past them.

Remus slammed all the money he had on the counter and when he noticed that two sickles were among them, he took them quickly and pushed them into his pocket.

"Is it enough?" He asked promptly, and showed her what he was about to buy. He watched the shop assistant as she counted his money.

"Yes, -", but before the shop assistant managed to finish her sentence, he fled.

"Keep the rest!" He called over his shoulder and ran as fast as he could. Remus managed to check his watch although he had four sandwiches and two bottles of water with him.

"Shit!" He cursed out loud. He was late.

As he came to the edge of the village and turned to apparate, the only thing his mind could think of was Tonks and if she was alright.

* * *

><p><strong>Tonks<strong>

Tonks watched hopelessly as Lupin apparated away with a loud _pop_ and she was left alone with a pack of wolves. She got down to the ground, leaning her back to a tree and hugging her knees to her chest. She grew her hair long so she didn't have to see those who were standing nearby and her hair changed it's colour unintentionally from bubblegum pink to black, mirroring her mood.

There was a silence for a minute before men around her started talking to each other quietly. Tonks wasn't listening, she didn't really care if they were talking about her.

"What are we going to do with her?" One of the men asked Greyback loudly. She raised her head just so she could peer at Greyback through her black hair.

Greyback's gaze lingered on her for a few seconds and then it snapped back to the man he was talking to.

"I don't really care. We have rules that touching other's fortune is forbidden, but I'm not going to stop you if you decide to do so. And I won't stop Lupin if he decides to kill you" Greyback spoke to the man casually. He swallowed loudly and turned to look at her.

When he started to make his way towards her, Tonks raised her head so she could look at him in the eye and gave him a glare that could make Walburga Black proud.

The man halted when she glared at him. He looked confused and he had a deep frown on his face as he looked at the others, indicating them to look at her.

Her glare turned to a confused look, when few men around her looked at her curiously. She didn't like this sudden attention that they were giving her and she didn't dare to check her pockets for a mirror to check if she had unintentionally morphed something worth watching. She ran her hand over her face quickly, pretending to rub her eyes to check if her nose was normal.

Her nose seemed to be normal, so she didn't understand what else they were staring at. At least they stayed where they were and didn't come any closer.

It didn't take long for them to snap out of it.

"Hey, do something for that hair", the werewolf that was approaching her spoke. She just stared at him, like he was speaking different language.

Somebody laughed nearby at his weak attempt to control her, "You're miserable with women, Fawler!" The voice sneered and received a glare from the werewolf in front of her.

_Damn these idiots_, she thought. If she only had her wand…

The idiot called Fawler crouched so he could pull her up, when somebody shouted, "Are you sure you want to, Fawler? Lupin's going to be _furious_…"

"Shut up! I want to see how he gets mad for once", a new voice interrupted.

"Besides, he should be here in a minute or so…"

Fawler backed away, disappointed.

There was a silence again as they waited for Lupin.

"He's late", Greyback announced and looked at her.

Fawler's face split into a triumphant grin and he pulled her up. Just then there was a loud _pop_ behind him and relief washed over Tonks.

"What are you doing?" Lupin's low voice growled. Fawler pushed his hands deep in his pockets and slogged away.

Lupin watched as he walked away and then looked at Tonks. He almost fell on his arse when he saw her. She had changed her hair colour from pink to black and her hair was now longer.

"You were late. Don't do that again, I'm too busy and lazy to punish you this time, but if this happens again, I will figure out something for you and your girlfriend. Got it?", Greyback spoke, when Lupin stared at his shoes.

"Yes", Lupin said quietly, his voice defeated.

"Good. Now that you're back, we'll leave to hunt. Don't go anywhere, as I said before, you'll join our dinner", Greyback spoke and smirked when Lupin hung his head.

Greyback indicated other wolves to follow him and they disappeared to the forest.

Lupin dropped his buyings to the ground before her, "Eat", he commanded her, "I don't know when is the next time we can leave, so save some for yourself, if we are stuck here for a long time. I'll eat with them", he continued and indicated to the direction where the others left with his head.

Tonks sat down and picked up one sandwich and a bottle of water. She opened the top of the bottle and took a swig. Then she took a bite of her sandwich and munched it quietly.

"I don't have any money left, so we have to do that trip to Diagon Alley as soon as possible.

Tonks just nodded and proceeded with her eating. She noticed that Lupin was staring at her, just like everyone else before. She lowered her sandwich and swallowed.

"What are you staring at?" She asked shortly.

Lupin shook his head, "Nothing", he said dismissively, speaking too quickly.

"Don't try to fool me, I'm not stupid. Spit it out", she snapped at him, annoyed.

"It's nothing important, really. Just forget it", he tried to drop the subject to no avail.

"Like hell it isn't! That Fawler fellow was about to do_ something_ for me, but then he stopped, gave me a funny look and indicated the others to look at me, which caused more unwanted attention. So spill", she spoke, annoyance evident in her voice.

Lupin sighed and conjured a mirror. Then he gave it for her.

Tonks looked in the mirror confused. All she saw was herself, with long and black hair. No horns or snout like she had expected. She frowned and glanced at him.

"I don't get it", she admitted, but didn't give the mirror back to him.

"You look like Bellatrix Lestrange", he blurted and regretted it in the same second when she gave him a death glare.

"That's not a compliment", she said and morphed her hair back to bubblegum pink and shortened it so that it reached her shoulders.

"I didn't mean to…" He started, but she cut him off.

"Of course you didn't", she said, trying to brush it off. She had been told before that she resembled her insane aunt a lot, but she didn't tell him that because she didn't want anyone to think that she was someway _related_ to the Black family. It didn't feel good to be reminded of it. She took another bite of her sandwich just to have something to do. She had lost her appetite.

"I'm sorry I told you", he said quietly, ashamed of his bold way to say it.

"Don't be. I'll keep in mind that I shouldn't morph my hair long and black", she said and drank from the bottle. The way she spoke told him that she should have known why they were staring, but he let it drop so he didn't upset her more.

It didn't take long for Greyback and others to come back. Lupin got up and walked over to the deer that they had caught and he didn't notice that Tonks was staring at him as he started eating with them like a werewolf he was.

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><p>Smith and Mason have nothing to do with the characters with the same surname in Harry Potter. :) And Fawler... Well, I wanted to give him a different name. :D<p>

Please let me know what you think. Reviews make my day!


	6. Chapter 6

HELLO PEOPLE! You probably thought that I had forgotten this story? NOPE, I hadn't.

And then the explanations, that I think you don't want to hear. :D I was very busy with my school till the beginning of June and when I had rewritten this chapter a couple of times, I thought that I should wait to get my inspiration back, so I wouldn't have to disappoint you with a short and crappy chapter. And now, MY INSPIRATION IS BACK, YAY!

**Thank you all for reviewing, alerting and favouriting!** It means a lot to me!

I have to thank **WolfMarauder** for asking me if I planned to continue this story. By asking you made me very happy to know that people are still waiting for the new chapters, and made me finish this chapter faster. So, thank you!

Yes, I do plan to continue this, and if my inspiration leaves again (which is at the moment a bit unlikely :D) I'll inform you!

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter.

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><p>When dinner was over, men around the deer scattered and resumed to their own duties. Lupin wiped blood from the corners of his mouth to his sleeve and turned to look at Tonks. She was clutching the remains of her sandwich, repulsed look on her face. She stared at him frozen.<p>

"I just lost my appetite", she said and looked at the squeezed sandwich.

"I'm sorry", he said, still wiping blood from his mouth, this time to the back of his hand.

Tonks still looked repulsed, "Nah, don't be."

She looked at her meal. She didn't have appetite to eat a squeezed sandwich, but she didn't dare to throw it away because they didn't have too much food. She groped her pockets for the wrap of her sandwich, rewrapped the sandwich and placed it neatly on top of her heap of sandwiches.

Tonks stood up and picked the remains of their food, one and half bottles of water, three sandwiches and one half-eaten, squeezed one.

"Let me help you with those", Lupin said, offering to take some of her load.

"No, no, I can manage", she said and struggled to keep everything from falling.

"You sure?" He asked incredulously, raising his brow.

"Yeah."

Lupin shrugged and led the way to their tent, checking regularly if she still followed. When he looked over his shoulder and noticed that she had dropped some of her load, he turned around and lifted the things she had dropped from the ground. Then he took the rest from her hands without saying a word. She frowned and pouted, but followed him anyway without saying a word.

When they got back to the tent, Lupin put his load down, sat and kept quiet. He felt ashamed of what she just had seen, her face had told him everything he needed to know - she was disgusted. He felt his neck burn with shame as she looked at him.

"When are we going to visit Diagon Alley?" She asked quietly, when he didn't look at her.

Lupin rubbed his temples. No wonder she asked that. She was just looking for a chance to run away, he _knew_ that. But he also had said to her that they would go to Diagon Alley, and she wouldn't be able to survive here for long if he decided to stubbornly keep her here to save his own ass.

"As soon as possible", he mumbled, wondering silently in his mind how many days he had left to live after Greyback discovered that he didn't come back with Tonks.

* * *

><p><strong>12 Grimmauld Place<strong>

Sirius was still watching the swirling smoke petrified, when Snape suddenly got up and made his way promptly to the stairs. Sirius snapped out of it when he realised that he was about to leave.

"Wha- … Hey wait a second! Where the hell are you going?" Sirius asked indignantly, not that he really needed Snape's dreadful company to make his kitchen even more filthy, but he wanted to know what was going to happen next.

"_I_ am returning to Hogwarts and informing Dumbledore about this, so he can decide when the next meeting is going to take place and what we will do about this. It would be _highly_ recommendable that you'd inform at least Mad-Eye and maybe Kingsley about the results, so you can be at least of some use", Snape drawled, ascending the stairs.

"No need to tell me what to do in my own home!", Sirius shouted after him just before he heard the front door shut. Even though he disliked the slimy git greatly, he did as he was told to do, and sent his patronus to both Mad-Eye and Kingsley.

It took less than half a minute for Mad-Eye to come banging through the front door and almost scare Sirius to death. The retired auror limped with his wooden leg briskly to the kitchen and came to a halt about a foot away from Sirius. He bended down so his both eyes were on the same level with Sirius, and he stared at him in the eyes without a blink.

"Are you _absolutely sure_ that the blood you found is really hers, that she really has been captured?" He asked with a threatening tone, but under it Sirius could sense great worry.

He found Mad-Eye's stare highly intimidating, so he tried to back away a little before whimpering his answer, "That's what Snivellus said, at least!"

Moody had a deep frown on his face as he turned his gaze at the still swirling smoke coming from the cauldron.

"That's the test we made, almost black smoke means positive", Sirius clarified before Mad-Eye managed to ask anything.

"I figured that much", Moody grunted as he examined the contents of the cauldron. He sat down heavily and rubbed his temples, seemingly lost what to do. It was absurd, really. He had _never_ seen Mad-Eye Moody that troubled, he looked hopeless. It was clear that he cared about Tonks dearly.

"Have you informed Andromeda and Ted?" Sirius asked quietly, when the silence had lasted for a minute. Tonks didn't visit her parents very often because of her work, so he was sure that they knew nothing about this.

Mad-Eye shook his head, "No, I haven't. I wanted to be sure first. I think I'll take Kingsley with me to visit her parents, he's better with these kind of things than I am", he muttered quietly.

"I sent him a patronus at the same time I sent one to you. I wonder what's holding him", Sirius told him and silence settled upon them once again. It was a very awkward one, at least for Sirius.

It took less than five minutes after that for Kingsley to come through the front door and down the stairs. He stood there and took a look at both of them. Mad-Eye was leaning his forehead against his palm, which was very unlike of him and Sirius just sat there looking at Mad-Eye, his arms crossed.

Just when Kingsley was about to ask what was going on, Mad-Eye stood up and indicated Kingsley to follow him. They quickly bid their goodbyes to Sirius.

"Where are we going?" He asked, when Mad-Eye didn't say anything after they had stepped out of the door.

"We're going to visit Nymphadora's parents", he answered curtly.

"What?" Kingsley exclaimed, "I have never even met them! Look, can't you go without me? I have to go to the Ministry to inform them that one of our aurors are missing and-…"

"You're coming with me. I think it's far better that I have another auror with me when I'm intruding their home and bringing this kind of bad news with me. We'll visit the Ministry right after we come back from there", Mad-Eye said and Kingsley understood that their conversation was over. If he was honest, he didn't really feel comfortable about bringing bad news to the people that he didn't really know. Not that he didn't care about Tonks, she was his friend, or that it made it easier if he actually knew Tonks' parents, but he had a bad feeling about this. Judging by what Sirius had told him about Andromeda, she wasn't going to take the news well. What kind of parent would? Maybe Mad-Eye just needed someone there with him, but you couldn't really tell, this was Mad-Eye after all, so he kept his mouth shut.

When they were sure that muggles couldn't see them, Mad-Eye offered his scarred hand so they could apparate to the Tonks house.

* * *

><p><strong>Remus &amp; Tonks<strong>

It was darkening outside as Remus and Tonks tried to talk to each other as normally as possible. When their conversation floated to an awkward silence once again, Lupin tried to figure out what caused this sudden awkwardness between them. Was it because of his disgusting eating habits with other werewolves?

"Look, I…", he started, but didn't know how to finish his sentence. She raised her gaze from her lap to look at him.

"Okay, I don't know how I should say this. I know that you're disgusted with me at the moment and…-"

"I'm not disgusted with you", Tonks cut him off. He looked her in the eyes to see some sort of clue that she was lying, but he didn't see any doubt in her chocolate brown eyes. Her eyes were genuine.

"Oh", he said, honestly surprised.

"Then what is it?" He inquired curiously.

She just shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm just tired."

"Should you go to bed then? I don't feel like sleeping with you just yet."

She smirked wickedly at him. It took him a moment to realise why she was suddenly grinning like crazy.

He could feel his ears burning as he stuttered for a few seconds, "That's not what I meant…"

She let out a hearty laugh. It was a relief to hear her laugh, he had been so worried when she had been so quiet.

"You're unbelievable!" He exclaimed and nudged her leg with his own.

She just laughed more, "You're such a prude! Really, you're blushing immediately when something improper comes up. If I didn't know better, I wouldn't even believe that you're a werewolf that lives with Greyback's pack. You're just so… nice and… shy."

By this point her laughs had subsided and she smiled at him.

"Just wait until the next full moon, then I'll be as bloodthirsty as them", he said a bit bitterly.

"Nah, that's just one night in a month. For the rest of the month you seem pretty harmless. Even I am more dangerous than you!"

"I doubt that. I mean, you fall over your feet quite a lot, but…" The rest of his sentence was cut of by Tonks, as she had reached out to hit his arm playfully.

"I thought you were tired", he said, feigning that she had hurt him.

"Yeah I was. And I still am, now that I think of it", just to prove her point she yawned widely. Then she took her sneakers and jeans off and crawled under the blanket.

Lupin sat still on the floor and looked at her as her bubblegum pink hair surfaced from under the blanket. She grinned at him merrily.

"Come on! Are you planning on staying awake for long?" She asked him as he didn't move. He just looked at her meaningfully.

"Oh don't you start again! I think we were over this, or am I really that disgusting?" Tonks exclaimed a bit annoyed at his endless attempts to be a proper gentleman.

"No, you're not. I just thought that you'd sleep better without me…"

"Like hell I would! I'd spend my whole night worrying about how comfortable you were sleeping on the floor. Come on now!"

"If you insist…" he mutter as he laid down beside her.

"Good night, Tonks."

"Good night, Lupin", Tonks said before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>The Tonks house<strong>

Mad-Eye and Kingsley appeared in front of the Tonks house. They walked through a white wooden fence to the front door. Moody raised his calloused hand to knock.

After a few seconds they heard voices, and then approaching footsteps.

"Who is it?" A male voice asked.

"It is I, Alastor Moody and I'm coming with auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. I was your daughter's mentor before she became an auror. Your daughter, Nymphadora Tonks, prefers to be called by her surname only. Bartemius Crouch Jr impersonated me for one year in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and-…"

"Okay that's enough", the voice cut him off and the door opened to reveal a smiling man on his mid-forties. He had the same dancing merriment in his eyes, just like Tonks had.

"No Ted, it isn't! I could easily be a Death Eater, _anyone_ would have been able to tell those things I just told you! Constant vigilance!" He bellowed, but Ted just rolled his eyes, ignoring him. Kingsley would have laughed at how much he reminded him of Tonks, if he didn't have something important to tell this nice man.

"Ted Tonks, nice to meet you", he said and held out his hand.

Kingsley shook it, "Kingsley Shacklebolt, nice to meet you too."

"Who is it, Ted?" A woman asked behind him.

"It's Alastor Moody with auror Kingsley Shacklebolt", he opened the door more and motioned them to come in. Mad-Eye wobbled inside before him and Kingsley followed him. As he passed Ted he saw a woman behind him.

Kingsley had heard that Bellatrix was Tonks' aunt and that her mother resembled her a lot, but he had never understood how much. A woman that looked way too much like someone who should be in Azkaban extended her hand, "Andromeda Tonks, Nymphadora's mother".

It took a few seconds for Kingsley to react. She had brown hair and softer features than her sister and her eyes were chocolate brown.

Kingsley shook her hand, "Kingsley Shacklebolt."

Ted led their way to their kitchen. Andromeda made her way to the counter to boil some water for tea.

Ted sat down and motioned Mad-Eye and Kingsley to do the same, but they kept their positions in front of the entrance to the kitchen.

"So, what brings you here on this lovely evening?" He asked as he leaned back on his chair.

Kingsley winced inwards and glanced at Mad-Eye, waiting for him to say something. Ted and Andromeda were so blissfully unaware of their daughter's condition, telling them about it was going to be a nightmare…

"We have news", Mad-Eye started. Andromeda turned to look at them from the kitchen counter, now all ears, "concerning Nymphadora."

Ted and Andromeda shared a long, concerned look, "What kind of news? Where is she? Is she alright?" Andromeda questioned clearly worried as Ted got up and wrapped his arms around her to calm her down.

"I'm afraid not", Kingsley said, as Mad-Eye kept quiet.

"What do you mean 'you're afraid not'? Where is she?" Andromeda asked angrily, her voice laced with fear.

The tea kettle whistled and Andromeda used her wand to pour hot water to four cups.

"We think she's been kidnapped" Kingsley said, and there was a loud noise as Andromeda dropped the tea kettle and water splashed on the floor. Her eyes were huge and fearful as she stared at Kingsley without blinking. Ted's eyes shifted from Kingsley to Mad-Eye for several times, before they settled on Kingsley.

"She was on guard duty for the Order when she disappeared. We found her wand and blood from a forest near Hogsmeade", Kingsley told them when Mad-Eye didn't say anything. At this point Andromeda had hid her face to Ted's chest and her shoulders were shaking. Ted's face was very pale as he kissed her hair and rubbed her back soothingly.

Andromeda's quiet sobs were the only thing that broke the heavy silence that had settled upon them.

"Do you have any idea where she might be?" Ted asked quietly, holding Andromeda tighter.

"No. We inform you as soon as possible when we know more. We haven't even informed the Ministry yet, so we must get going. We're really sorry", Mad-Eye's normally gruff voice softened towards the end. Then he turned around and clonked towards the door. Kingsley too presented his apologies and followed Moody, closing the door behind him as Ted nor Andromeda hadn't followed them.

They walked in silence from the house.

"We still have the Ministry to inform", Moody said when he stepped out from the white front gate.

Before Kingsley managed to answer him, Moody had disapparated, so he turned and followed him to the Ministry.

* * *

><p><strong>The Ministry of Magic<strong>

Kingsley arrived to the Atrium and started immediately look for Mad-Eye from the crowd. It didn't take long for Kingsley to find him; he saw Mad-Eye limping towards the lifts. Kingsley made his way towards Mad-Eye half running, catching him before he managed to get to a lift. When Kingsley had managed to catch up with him, they squeezed themselves to a lift full of people.

Fortunately their ride with a lift wasn't a long one. When the lift reached Level Two, Mad-Eye clonked towards Gawain Robards' office as soon as the doors opened. Kingsley rushed after Mad-Eye to keep up with him.

Mad-Eye didn't even bother to knock when he rumbled through the door to find a surprised Robards behind his desk.

"ONE OF YOUR AURORS HAS GONE MISSING!" Mad-Eye bellowed before Robards even managed to ask what was the matter.

Robards flinched at Mad-Eye's shouting, the old codger had clearly gone bonkers.

"Missing? What do you mean? Who are we talking about?" Robards questioned as Kingsley appeared behind Moody.

"It's Tonks, sir. I was supposed to meet up with her yesterday evening in Hogsmeade, but instead of that I found her wand and blood… We think she's been kidnapped", Kingsley finished.

"I see. Where exactly were you supposed to meet and where you find her wand and the blood?" Robards asked.

Kingsley told Robards all he needed to know while Mad-Eye was fuming beside him.

"Thank you for informing me. I'll send aurors there tomorrow", Robards stated calmly, not lifting his gaze while he wrote down what Kingsley had told him.

Mad-Eye slammed his fist to the desk, making Robards jump and his ink bottle to spill so there were splashed all over his parchment and desk.

"TOMORROW? The girl is somewhere out there, needing your help and YOU tell me that you're sending the aurors there TOMORROW?" Moody roared. It was clear that he was furious, so Robards hunched a little under his heavy gaze.

"Look, it's been a long day. If Tonks disappeared yesterday and you haven't heard of her since, it's pointless to send aurors to the night to look at the place when you clearly have searched it through. They'll go to Hogsmeade tomorrow morning immediately when the sun rises.

"Since when have aurors been afraid of darkness?" Mad-Eye scoffed.

"That's not it. It's more effective to work when you see something without your wand. Good night", Robards told them, indicating them to leave.

Mad-Eye grunted and headed out, Kingsley on his heels.

* * *

><p><strong>Remus &amp; Tonks<strong>

Remus woke up in the morning to find out that Tonks had robbed the blanket. He shivered in cold and sat up so he could put his jacket on, laid back down and tried to sleep to no avail. When Remus had changed his position several times and tossed around for a while, he glanced at Tonks. She was facing him and sleeping peacefully, her bubblegum pink hair ruffled on his pillow and his blanket wrapped so warmly around her slim figure that he didn't have a heart to wake her up just to have some rest himself. He didn't even feel like sleeping, he was fully awake now.

He raised himself on one elbow and rested his temple on his hand so he could look at her properly. He couldn't help but wonder how nice she was, even though he was a werewolf and practically a stranger, she didn't treat him very differently. Sure, he noticed that there were things that she wasn't quite used to, but she was open-minded.

And _damn_ she was beautiful. She probably had a boyfriend at home, waiting for her and worrying sick about her, he thought bitterly. He found himself oddly jealous and he couldn't figure out why. She wasn't _his_, except maybe in the eyes of the pack.

Even though she had been living with him these past two days, he realised that he really didn't know much about her. He didn't know what she did for living or where she was kidnapped… Heck, he didn't even know her first name!

His thought were interrupted, when she suddenly moved and her eyes opened to reveal her chocolate brown eyes. She stretched her arms before looking at him wearily after noticing that he was watching her.

"Do I have something on my nose?" She muttered sleepily before clamping her eyes shut and burying her face to his blanket.

"Good morning. And no, you don't", Lupin answered and smiled at her drowsy behaviour.

Her words were muffled by blanket as she spoke, "Then what are you staring at", she hadn't probably heard his good mornings as she hadn't answered them and she looked like she was zoning out again.

"Nothing particularly. Come on, Tonks. We have to get up soon."

"Juss few moarr minutess…", she slugged and turned her back to him.

* * *

><p>Hope you liked it! :) I'm sorry to inform you that I'll be away for a week, so the next chapter will be up in two weeks. (The next chapter will be Diagon Alley, I'm SO EXCITED to finally write it!)<p>

Reviews make me happy! ^^


	7. Chapter 7

Hello again dear readers! Thank you again for all the reviews, they always make me happy! Here's chapter 7, Diagon Alley. I planned this one to be a lot longer than this, but then I decided to split this one in two. The other half's not ready yet, and I'm sure it'll be up in less than a month, maybe even sooner.

**Warning: Mild violence and blood**

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, I do this for fun and I don't get any money from this.

* * *

><p>Remus sighed when Tonks snuggled into the blanket and tried to fall asleep again. He waited for a few seconds and then decided that it was time for her to wake up. They had to go for a breakfast with others anyway in a few minutes.<p>

"Come on Tonks, time to wake up", he said while shaking her gently. She just mumbled something completely incoherent and buried her face deeper into the blanket.

Lupin tried to shake her awake again, this time a little more forcefully. When it didn't work, he just grabbed the blanket and yanked it out from her grasp. Tonks frowned and huffed in annoyance, eyes still closed.

"You know that's a very rude way to wake someone up", she informed him while hugging her knees to her chest.

"I apologise for that, but we have to go for a breakfast on time" Lupin said and threw her trousers beside her on the mattress.

"I didn't know kidnapped people had a schedule", she commented sarcastically and let out a huge yawn while stretching her arms.

Lupin ignored her last comment and offered her a water bottle and a sandwich, "Do you want to eat before we go?" He asked her.

"Nope", she answered crankily while putting her jeans on. When Lupin shrugged and was about to put them back to where he had taken them, she hastily continued, "actually now that I think of it I'm a bit hungry…"

Lupin grinned at her and gave her the breakfast he was about to put away.

While Tonks sat down to eat, Lupin digged his pockets to find out how much money they had left. He had spent the last of their muggle money yesterday, but he still had some sickles and three galleons left. They had to get to Diagon Alley as soon as possible, they couldn't pay anything around here with only sickles and galleons.

"Are you finished yet?" Lupin asked.

"Yep."

"Good. Then let's go."

Lupin crawled from their tent first and then helped Tonks up. They walked in silence to the clearing.

Greyback and most of the wolves were already there, but the hunting group hadn't returned yet. It seemed that they were late, and Greyback didn't look pleased.

After ten minutes of waiting filled with unsatisfied growling from Greyback and other wolves, three men returned, two of them carrying sheep on their backs. Their once white and soft wools were now stained with blood.

"You're late!" Greyback roared as soon as the men came into sight. Two of them dropped sheep they carried to the ground with a _thump_ and looked at the third, waiting for him to say something. He however kept quiet.

"Well?" Greyback inquired, waiting for an answer.

The third man looked at the other two for help, but when none came, he did the talking.

"You see, we didn't find any deer, so we had to visit a farm about ten miles from here to find something…"

"And…? It doesn't take _that_ long to walk ten miles. Any other reasons?"

"It didn't take long for us to get to sheep, but we were spotted right after Farian killed the first one. Darren had to take the other one with him and it kind of died in the hustle. There were two men, and they tried to follow us to the forest, and we were shot several times with some kind of mugglegun. It seems that they followed the stains that the bleeding sheep left and after few miles or so they gave up. However, we had to do a long detour to make sure they didn't follow us here…" His shaky voice drifted off, afraid of Greyback's reaction.

Greyback snorted mockingly, "You're probably the worst hunting group I've ever seen. Not only were you so daft that it didn't even occur to you to _check_ if someone was watching you, but you were stupid enough to get _spotted_ so that they started _following_ you? How thick can you get? It isn't even _hard_ to keep quiet and NOT to get noticed, but it's crucial that no outsider gets a whiff of us!" His voice got louder towards the end and right after he ended his speech, he slashed his yellow nails across the poor man's face, leaving behind four deep, bleeding gashes running across his left ear, forehead, brows, nose and mouth. He winced slightly, but didn't say a word.

Greyback strolled over to the sheep and tore a large chunk of meat from the other one. When he had taken what he wanted, he crouched down beside a large rock.

"Eat", he ordered, after no one moved.

When the three men from the hunting group made to take their own share, Greyback stood up abruptly and shoved Darren roughly to the ground, "NONE of you three get breakfast this morning after a failure like that!" He bellowed, his eyes glinting with fury.

Tonks sat down beside a tree about twenty feet from sheep when Remus went to get his own breakfast. She knew that he was ashamed of how they ate their food, so she figured that he would eat with others so she wouldn't have to look at him.

While she sat alone and watched the sight before her absent-mindedly, she thought about the last few days. Remus had been very kind to her, and he was genuinely concerned about what she though and how she felt. Yet, she realised with a jolt, that she didn't really know him. Why did he treat her like he did, why did he care? What was he doing here? She didn't even know his first name…

…And he didn't know hers, but she wouldn't mind if he never learned about it…

"Ready to go?" Lupin asked and snapped her out of her reverie. He helped her up and they set off to their tent once again. Lupin kept his gaze firmly on his feet and refused to meet her eyes.

"You know, I think we should get to know each other better", Tonks announced him when he kept quiet.

"You think so?" He said quietly, still not looking at her.

"Yeah. I thought that now that I'm stuck here for the next two and half weeks, I could as well to get to know you."

"You think that's wise? Making friends with werewolves?" He grumbled silently.

"Well, yes. You seem fine to me. Come on, cheer up! It was just a breakfast, no need to be so grumpy about it."

"I'm not grumpy."

"Oh yes, you are! And you forgot to ask when we can do our trip to Diagon Alley", Tonks chirped merrily, jumping a few steps ahead of him.

"I didn't dare, he was furious. I could have gained a few new scars like Iain back there."

"Hmm, yeah. That may be true", she said and stopped in front of their tent. Remus halted beside her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, looking at her frown.

"Nothing. I was just wondering if you fancy a walk?" She looked him in the eyes, first time since they left the clearing.

"Sure, why not", he said and followed her deeper to the forest.

"So", Tonks started when they had walked a while to make sure no one heard them, "what's your name?"

Lupin laughed softly, "How can I be sure that you tell yours after I tell mine? You've already refused to tell it to me several times"

Tonks thought for a moment, "Good question. A very good one. Let's skip that."

"Fine by me", he told her, and frowned, "Why are you so reluctant to let me know about it? I won't laugh at it, I promise", he said, curiosity obvious in his voice.

She shrugged, "I don't see any point in telling it to you. It's a horrible name, trust me. People who know about it have a tendency to call me by my first name _accidentally_, when they're clearly aware of how I dislike it."

"Oh. Will you tell me some day?" He asked hopefully.

"Hmm. Maybe", she grinned mischievously up at him.

She paused for a moment, "What's your favourite food, then?"

He didn't have to think that for a long time, as his answer came instantly, "chocolate."

"Chocolate?" She asked and chuckled.

"Yep. It's one of the foods that I miss the most while here. What I wouldn't give just to have some chocolate…" He grinned and closed his eyes, "What about you then?"

"Mine's probably ice cream, then. I like almost all flavours. I also love strawberries."

"Really? Then we'll have to stop at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour once we get to Diagon Alley", he said and smiled warmly.

"Sounds like a plan."

When she didn't continue, Lupin understood that it was his turn to ask, "What do you do for living? I've asked this before, but you didn't want to tell me back then…" His voice drifted off towards the end.

Tonks sighed and sat down beside a nearby rock, leaning her back on it and covering her face with her right hand. Lupin sat down beside her.

"What is it?" He asked, concern filling his gentle voice.

"Like I told you the first night here, I wouldn't be here if I was good at what I do… I was so stupid!", she told him miserably.

"Don't blame yourself. Believe me, the fact that you're here doesn't make you any less talented or good at what you do", he told her calmly, placing his hand on her shoulder.

She was silent for a moment, "I'm an Auror", she confessed, her voice sounding like she had just told him something so shameful that she didn't even dare to look him in the eyes.

"An Auror?" He couldn't help but be surprised.

"Weird, isn't it?" She muttered and covered her face again, now with both hands.

"No! I didn't mean it like that. Anyone who is good enough to be an Auror is extremely talented in my eyes", he said and smiled kindly to her when she looked up.

She smiled wanly and felt a bit better after what he said.

"What about you then?" She asked suddenly.

Lupin rubbed his neck with his left hand, "Well, when your life is currently like this you hardly have time for any job… Besides, no one wants to hire a werewolf. The chances are one in a million, and if I'm able to get a job, I'll be thrown out straight away when they discover my secret", he told her sadly.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that", Tonks said, feeling genuinely sorry for the man.

"What would you like to do, then?" She asked.

Lupin was silent for few seconds before answering, "I have passion for teaching and working with children… It's unfortunate though that no parent wants their child near a werewolf like me, and I can't really blame them for that."

"I think you'd make a great professor. Have you ever tried teaching?"

"Yes, actually, I have. I was a professor for almost one year before people heard about my condition, and I left before the parents were able to complain about it more than they already had", he smiled sadly, "I liked it, though. For almost one year it felt like I was just like any other man with a job, even though I had my problems once a month."

She smiled at him, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a job some day once you get out of here."

"I certainly hope so."

* * *

><p><strong>Hogsmeade<strong>

The dawn was just breaking, when three aurors appeared in Hogsmeade. The tallest of them walked intently towards the forest, the other two following behind.

"I tried to found everything I could yesterday, but I thought that it would be better to check if I missed something important", Kingsley explained to them.

Kingsley showed them the patch of dried blood. Dawlish took his own samples from it, when Kingsley didn't dare to say that they had already checked that it was Tonks' for the fear that they would discover that he was in the Order.

"I found her wand here", he pointed a spot beside the blood, "Mad-Eye has it now."

"Speaking of him, where is he? I thought that he was the one that insisted we come here as soon as possible?" Proudfoot spoke up behind him.

"He went to Tonks' apartment to find out if someone had looked for her from there before she was found here", Kingsley told him.

"Is anyone there with him?"

"No, he went alone. He is more observant than all three of us together, he won't miss a thing", Kingsley said.

"Okay, let's scrutinize this, so we'll get out of here", Dawlish spoke when he stood up.

* * *

><p><strong>Remus &amp; Tonks<strong>

After they had returned to their tent, Tonks had eaten one and half sandwiches for lunch and drank water, leaving them with only one sandwich and half a bottle water.

Lupin frowned, "it seems that we're running out of food. I wonder what you'll be eating tomorrow if we don't get Greyback's permission."

"Should we go and ask now? Or not until after lunch?" Tonks asked.

"He probably isn't anywhere near to be found at the moment. I think I should ask him before lunch."

When time passed and it was their time to go for a lunch, they found Greyback waiting for a hunting group once again.

Lupin's hands snaked around Tonks' waist when they neared him, "I'm asking your permission to leave once again", Lupin informed him cautiously.

Greyback turned his unpleasant, striking eyes to Lupin and was silent for a moment. Then his smirk showed his sharp, yellow teeth and he spoke, "Nope. Won't do. It hasn't been long since you visited the town, you'll have to survive without your little visit."

Lupin nodded, defeated. He glanced at Tonks apologetically.

"Now that I think of it", Greyback continued suddenly, scratching his chin, "you can go. You'll have two hours, be sure to be back on time. You have to skip lunch, but that really isn't my problem."

"Thank you, we will", Lupin nodded his thanks, unable to hide the mirth in his voice.

Lupin and Tonks were about to leave for their tent to retrieve Lupin's wand and the little money they had left, when Greyback called out again, "Oh, and Lupin!"

When he turned around to look at him, Greyback smirked, "it seems that the hunting team is late once again. You'll be hunting at least for the next three days."

"Yes, sir", Lupin said, his voice much less joyful than ten seconds ago.

The walk to the tent was silent, Lupin didn't realise his right hand was still on Tonks waist when they reached the tent and they went to retrieve the things they needed. Lupin gave Tonks the money they had left, when he himself put his wand to his pocket in his coat.

"I think it would be wise to change your appearance a bit in case somebody recognises you", he told her.

"I think you're right. What would you like today?" She asked and grinned widely.

"Doesn't really matter. Something unrecognizable.

She scrunched up her face, and suddenly before him stood a beautiful, brown-haired and green-eyed woman, who was a bit taller than Tonks.

"Good enough?" She asked.

"I think so. You don't look like yourself too much."

He offered his hand to apparate to the Leaky Cauldron, "Buy yourself something you really need with the remaining money such as clothes. I'll deal with the food."

"All right", she said and took his hand.

* * *

><p><strong>The Leaky Cauldron<strong>

They appeared to the Leaky Cauldron, and walked towards the entrance to Diagon Alley. When they reached the brick wall, Lupin tapped it with his wand, moving it counter-clockwise. A doorway appeared before them, and Lupin guided her through it, his hand on the small of her back.

Diagon Alley was bustling with all kinds of witches and wizards, young and old, tall and short. Lupin took a firm hold on her shoulders and pulled her away from the crowd.

"This is where we go separate ways. Get the things you can with the money you have, if what you have isn't enough I'll give you more when I get back. We'll meet in the Leaky Cauldron in one and a half hours, please don't be late", Lupin told her hurriedly.

"Okay, see you soon", Tonks said and was about to leave, when Lupin grabbed her hand firmly and didn't let go. Tonks looked at him questioningly.

"What is it?" She asked and raised and eyebrow when he didn't let go.

Lupin realised, that if she now decided to flee, it would be the last nail to his coffin. He would probably never see her again, and suddenly a thought occurred to him, "What's your name?" He asked.

Tonks furrowed her brows and chuckled a little, "Is that it?"

Lupin nodded, "I'm Remus."

She looked uneasy for a moment and then she sighed, "Nymphadora."

He smiled at her, "Okay, Nymphadora… Tonks", he corrected quickly when he saw her glare, "I trust you with my life now, please don't run away", he pleaded with her.

"Okay, I won't."

"I'll help you out of this as soon as I can, but I still need you there with me for two and a half weeks. I know it's a lot to ask, but…" his voice stopped suddenly when she hugged him quickly.

"Just go already, we don't have much time. I'll be there when you get back, I promise", Tonks assured him.

Remus let out a huge grin and kissed her forehead before disappearing to the crowd.

Well, that was a bit unexpected, she thought and grinned when she walked towards shops.

* * *

><p><strong>Remus<strong>

Remus made his way towards Gringotts through the sea of people.

Had he been too bold when he had kissed her? He mentally hit himself for that, maybe he shouldn't have…

"Well, too late to worry about that", he thought and entered Gringotts.

He walked up to a desk where a goblin was writing something down with a quill.

"I'd like to visit my vault 538", Remus announced and the goblin looked up.

"Name?" He asked, sounding a bit bored.

"Remus Lupin."

"And key?"

Remus searched the key from his pockets and when he found it, he showed it to the goblin.

"All right then. Follow me", the goblin said and Lupin followed him to a cart that would take him to his vault. After a very fast and sinuous drive, they hopped from the cart and stopped before his vault.

"Key, please", the goblin said and extended his hand.

Remus gave him the key and he unlocked the door before them. Lupin went in and looked at the little heap of money that was placed neatly in the middle of the vault. It was all he had left from his year of teaching at Hogwarts. Twenty-eight galleons, thirty-six sickles and eleven knuts, to be exact. These were his all savings, and now he was trying to push them all deep into his pockets. When he had managed to get everything, he stood up and felt how heavy his coat truly was with all the coins he had.

When he got up from the cart after the ride back, he followed the goblin to the marble entrance hall, thanked him and went to change his savings to muggle money. He halted before a desk that changed currency and started unpacking his pockets on the desk. The goblin behind it raised his white brows questioningly.

"I'd like to exchange these to pounds, please", Lupin said while emptying his pockets.

"Very well then", goblin said when Lupin placed his last knut on the desk.

It took less than a minute for the goblin to count the money and give the pounds in exchange.

"148 pounds and 59 pence", he said and gave Remus the money.

Remus thanked him and left the Gringotts.

So 148 pounds and 59 pence it was. At the moment it sounded like a lot of money, he didn't remember the last time he had so much money in his pockets. But considering he had to buy food with it for someone for the next two and a half weeks, it seemed very less. He did a quick math, and worked out that it meant about eight pounds a day and almost three pounds per meal, and that wasn't much.

He glanced at his watch. He had less than an hour left, when he left to get meals for the next week.

* * *

><p><strong>Tonks<strong>

Tonks wandered around in Diagon Alley, looking for clothes like Remus had suggested. She didn't have enough money to go to Madam Malkin's and she couldn't pay later, because she was supposed to be anonymous, and Twilfitt and Tatting's was out of question.

Then she noticed a shop that had "The Junk Shop" written on it's label that seemed to sell almost everything. She stepped in.

Inside the shop there was an woman on her fifties sitting behind a counter and reading Witch Weekly. And when she took a glimpse at her surroundings, there was everything she could have imagined. Old schoolbooks, used quills, ancient copper cauldrons and broken scales…

… And old, worn-looking cloaks and clothes, that looked like someone wanted to get rid of them as fast as possible. She strode over to take a closer look.

Some of them were so ugly and worn that she wasn't at all surprised why someone didn't want them. But among the bad ones were also better, new-looking ones.

After looking around for a while, her eyes landed on a short-sleeved blouse, that looked unused. It was deep blue and it had striking orange dots on it. It looked horrendous for sure, but maybe she would be able to fix it up a bit with Remus' wand…

"Do you need any help?" The woman had left her magazine on the counter and had come right behind her.

"Hmm… Yes. How much this costs?" Tonks asked and pointed the blouse.

"Oh, that one! I bought it for my daughter six months ago, she refused to even try it on… It has been here long enough though, so ten sickles and it'll be yours", the woman smiled warmly at her.

Tonks bought worn denim shorts from the same shop before exiting, spending only a galleon and seven sickles.

After buying the rest of the necessities she needed (such as new underwear and a toothbrush…) she still had a few sickles left. Wondering how she would spend them, she walked towards the Leaky Cauldron and stopped in front of a stall when she saw a sign.

Chocolate. And she still had money for one bar. Her grin was wide when she looked up for the remaining money.

"I'll take one", she said and gave the money to the seller. She took the bar she had bought and placed it carefully to her bag of purchases before resuming her walk towards the Leaky Cauldron.

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><p>Please let me know what you think! :)<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

Hello!

You know that feeling when you got something finished and then you notice that you're not at all happy with it? That's actually what happened to me, this one was ready like... Five days ago, but I had to practically rewrite the whole thing before I was satisfied, hence the delay.

But well, here it is! It's a bit shorter than usually, because this one was supposed to be part two of the seventh chapter.

**Warning: Strong language and blood**

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the world of Harry Potter.

* * *

><p>Tonks entered the Leaky Cauldron and immediately she felt a whiff of warm air on her face. She walked towards the counter and bought a butterbeer from Tom. Then she made her way towards a dark table in the corner, waiting for Remus.<p>

She didn't have to wait long before she saw familiar faces enter the Leaky Cauldron. Mad-Eye Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt to be exact. They made their way to the counter to have a talk with Tom.

Tonks panicked. She was disguised, yes, but not so well that people who knew her personally wouldn't notice her. With Mad-Eye's observation they would probably recognise her if they paid attention to her a second too long. She even had the same clothes on as the night she was kidnapped! So she bowed her head and let her hair hang on her face all the while pretending to sip her butterbeer as she walked past them to the ladies' room.

Tonks locked the door behind her, put her butterbeer down and looked herself in the mirror. She saw many familiarities with her real face in the morphed one. She kept her hair brown, but made herself look about as old as Remus. She also messed with her face as much as she dared in fear that it would look unnatural. Then she frowned at her clothes, that suited her own style way too nicely. She searched her bags for the blouse she had just bought and grimaced when she put the thing on. When she was finished, she unlocked the door, still her butterbeer in hand, and tried very hard not to make eye contact with the lady that had been waiting to get in.

She slipped back to the corner table she had previously left and scanned the pub for Mad-Eye and Kingsley. She hold her breath for a few seconds when she saw them coming towards her - and then sit down on the table just beside hers. Mad-Eye had a firewhiskey and Kingsley had a water bottle in front of him.

"Nothing new in Hogsmeade. They're investigating the evidence in the Ministry now", Kingsley told Mad-Eye quietly.

He just grunted in response. "I searched her flat over. It looked like it had been turned over in search of something. At first I thought somebody had ransacked her flat but there was no evidence of Death Eaters even visiting the place." Mad-Eye snorted disapprovingly. So they were talking about _her_? She was about to turn over on her chair to inform them that she had heard that, but decided against it just in time. She was supposed to wait here for Remus.

"I only hope that she is safe and alive", said a soft voice that she hadn't heard before. She frowned as she tried to work out who that was, had someone joined their conversation?

"Me too. You really worry about her, do you?" Kingsley answered the voice quietly, and with a jolt Tonks realised that the voice belonged to Mad-Eye, _Mad-Eye_ of all the people! She never thought that such a soft voice could ever come from the retired auror.

"She's like a daughter to me. She can take care of herself, but still I'm worrying about her constantly, especially now that she's gone missing", Mad-Eye said quietly. Tonks felt like she was about to cry. She had known that Mad-Eye cared about her a lot, but she had _never_ hear him admit it out loud like that. He probably wouldn't have admitted it now if he knew that she was listening to them. She was itching to turn around and tell the old codger what a softy he was nowadays.

Not long after that Mad-Eye and Kingsley finished their drinks, stood up and left the Leaky Cauldron. Tonks, too, finished her butterbeer, but remained where she was, waiting for Remus.

* * *

><p><strong>Remus<strong>

Remus made his way through the endless sea of people towards the Leaky Cauldron. He had shrunk the things he had bought to fit into his pockets. His heart was beating loudly against his ribs, and he could feel the pounding in his ears. He hoped against hope that she would be there, waiting for him like she had promised. If not then… Then what? What was he going to do? He couldn't go back to the pack, that's for sure, and if that was the case, his mission for the Order as a spy would fail miserably.

His thoughts were interrupted when he stopped at the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. He closed his eyes and took a few calming breaths before opening the door and stepping in.

Remus scanned the pub quickly. No signs of her. Maybe she was in the ladies' room? However that little hope he had died soon when an elder lady stepped out of the loo. He took a few steps and looked now more carefully. Nothing. He couldn't even find anyone that resembled her or her disguise slightly.

So she had left. Just like he had feared all along. What now? He could feel himself sweating as he ran his fingers through his greying hair and pulled fistfuls of it from his scalp.

Tonks had seemed so _honest_ when her huge chocolate brown eyes had looked up after she had hugged him. She had _promised_ to be there when he got back. At that moment he hadn't doubted her honesty, not even for a second.

But on the other hand, she was an _Auror_ for Merlin's sake, she was probably in Ministry right now with her Aurorpals, probably planning something to get his ass kicked…

"Looking for someone?" Asked a pleasant-looking woman. He hadn't noticed her coming closer, he had been so absorbed in his own musings. She was about the same age he was, and she was pretty in her own way. She was wearing a deep blue blouse that had bright orange dots on it. The colours clashed horribly.

"Yes, actually", he said glumly and hung his head, not meeting her eyes, "but it doesn't matter anymore, she isn't here. So if you'll excuse me…" Remus said and tried to walk past her, but she raised her arm to stop him.

Remus lifted his gaze, confused. What this woman wanted from him? When his confused eyes met her vibrant ones, her green eyes flashed to pink.

"Tonks?" He whispered, barely audible. He could have sworn that his eyes were as big as saucers at the moment.

Her grin widened as she nodded. He didn't care that they were in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron when he swept her to a bone-crushing hug. He didn't even care that the pub's other customers were giving them weird looks when he swung her around. When he let her down, still hugging her, she had a very surprised but happy expression on her face. He was sure his own grin reached from ear to ear.

"You stayed", he breathed against her brown hair.

"Of course I stayed", she said and laughed a bit, "I promised you."

Remus beamed and let go of her, "Shall we go then?"

She nodded and took hold of his hand, as they towards the exit and apparated.

* * *

><p><strong>12 Grimmauld Place<strong>

Sirius was sulking in the kitchen of his childhood home, his feet resting on the table. He had received a Patronus from Dumbledore, informing him that meeting would be held tonight. They would probably discuss Tonks' disappearance, Remus' mission, guard duties, and so on. It depressed him deeply that he wasn't able to help the Order with_ anything_. He was useless. Completely useless. And Remus wasn't anywhere near to cheer him up. Sirius worried about him a lot, last time they heard from him was three weeks ago, and there had been a full moon about a week ago. Transformations with other wolves were always dangerous, there was a remarkable risk that Remus had hurt himself and… Sirius hadn't slept a wink that night, he just hoped that Dumbledore had some news concerning his best mate.

His thought were interrupted when he heard voices from the hallway. He didn't even bother to stand up and see who it was, they would eventually come down to the kitchen anyway.

And just like he had predicted, Molly Weasley appeared to the kitchen, levitating huge paper bags full of food.

"Hello-! Oh Sirius, take those dirty feet of yours off the table instantly!"

"And what if I don't want to cooperate with you?" Sirius asked lazily.

Molly lowered her bags on the counter and immediately pointed her wand at him. His feet were slung off the table so forcefully that it almost caused him to fall from his chair.

"Merlin's pants, Molly! I thought that _I_ lived here!" Sirius exclaimed, seemingly very annoyed.

"Yes you do, but Dumbledore sent his Patronus about the meeting later than usually. So that means that we'll have to be quick to get the dinner ready on time", Molly told him as she unpacked the foodstuff from paper bags.

"A-ha. Well, I'll be going upstairs, so, you know, I won't be on your wa-… Hey! Hold on a second there, what do you mean when you say 'we'?"

Molly didn't even look at him as she replied, "I meant that you're going to help me with the dinner", Molly had just washed carrots and now she levitated them over to him, "Would you please chop these for me?" She asked and lowered them on the table in front of him. Then she turned around to wash potatoes.

"But… BUT! Where are the kids? Why they're not helping you?" Sirius whined.

"They'll come with Arthur later. Fred and George would cause way more harm than they'll be of use anyway."

"But still… Why me?"

Molly pulled something out of one of the bags. It looked like a bottle, a bottle of…

"FIREWHISKEY?!" Sirius exclaimed and went to get it, "Thank you so much, Molly! I never would have thought that you of all the people would get it for me, thank you, thank you, _thank_ you", he was about to snatch the bottle from Molly, when she held it out of his reach.

"No no no no. You'll have to help me prepare the dinner in order to get it."

Sirius' face fell visibly, "You're really mean sometimes, you know that, right?"

He pulled his wand from his pocket and started chopping the carrots.

* * *

><p><strong>Remus &amp; Tonks<strong>

When they got back to their tent, Remus started enlarging the shrunken things he found from his pockets, while Tonks morphed back to her real self and looked at her new blouse with her brows furrowed.

"It really is horrible, isn't it?" She said, more to herself than to him, "Can I borrow your wand for a second, please?"

Remus had just enlarged last of his things, "Sure."

Tonks tried multiple different colours for the blouse, but she wasn't really satisfied with any of them. The blouse reverted back to it's horrendous natural state when she let out a frustrated huff and offered Remus his wand back.

"Everything I try looks absolutely awful. Your turn."

He took his wand and waved it. The blouse diminished a bit to fit her small frame. With another wave, the blouse transformed into a pink one with white squares.

"Good enough?"

"Yep. Thanks."

She took the blouse off and folded it haphazardly. Then she went to retrieve her other things from her bags, when her hand hit something solid.

Her eyes danced with mirth, "I got you something", she announced.

His eye brows shot up in surprise, "You did?"

"Yeah", she said and pulled out a bar of… _chocolate_? The bar had cracked from several places, but Remus didn't really care.

"You got me chocolate?" He said with a puzzled expression on his face.

"You said that you liked chocolate, so I thought that you would like some… It probably isn't as good as Honeydukes' chocolate, but I thought it would be nice", she said as he took the bar from her extended hand.

"It's perfect. Thank you", he said and smiled at her.

"I'm sorry we didn't have time to go to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour", he added.

"Don't worry about it, we'll get there next time", she assured him as he gave her a chunk of chocolate and then ate some himself, looking up at the ceiling with. A smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"It's been way too long since the last time I ate chocolate" he muttered.

Tonks ate her own piece in silence.

"We should probably go and see Greyback, so he knows that we're back", Remus told her quietly.

They found Greyback among the other wolves. He sat his back leaning to a tree, looking bored. He looked up when he heard them.

"So you're back. And I'm surprised, you're not late this time."

They halted and Remus looked around. There were patches of dried blood laying on the grass, bloody fur and a few bones here and there. It really did look like a large pack of wild, vicious beasts just mauled an animal. And that's just what has happened.

"We'll be leaving in a few hours. Make sure that you hide that bitch of yours somewhere and make sure that she won't escape", Greyback waved his hand, indicating them to leave.

"Yes, sir", Remus said quietly, barely keeping his indignation down about how Greyback spoke about Tonks, like she was no more than a filthy dog.

Silently, he guided her away, his hand on her waist.

"Let me show you something", he said after a moment. He let go of her and walked a few steps ahead. She followed him.

She didn't really know how long they had walked. It felt like forever. Finally he stopped. She stood beside him and looked at what he wanted to show her.

In front of them was a pond. It was small and not very deep, it looked like a place where only animals visited.

"I come here to wash myself and my clothes up", he said quietly.

"Can't you wash them using your wand?" She asked.

"Yes, I could, but… There's something very comforting about washing your clothes. It makes me feel… I don't know, more like a person than a beast", Remus admitted softly.

"You're not a beast. You seem very much like a person to me", Tonks told him seriously.

Remus was about to disagree with her, to tell her how wrong she really was, but decided against it.

"Thank you", he said quietly.

* * *

><p><strong>12 Grimmauld Place<strong>

The delicious smell of steak and mashed potatoes filled the Grimmauld Place. Sirius wiped his hands to the front of his orange, wrinkled apron which Molly had forced him to wear after she had heard him constantly complaining about all this cooking ruining his clothes.

He looked at the dinner laid on the table with a satisfied grin, "I think we did a great job. Now, would you _please_ take this horrible thingy off of me? Really, you shouldn't have put a sticking charm on it."

With a flick of Molly's wand, the apron was gone. With another flick the bottle of firewhiskey levitated towards Sirius. He snatched it triumphantly and just as he was about to run upstairs with it, he could hear Molly's voice calling out to him, "And don't you dare drink it until after the meeting!"

* * *

><p><strong>Remus &amp; Tonks<strong>

"I think I should be going", Remus said and stood up.

"Right. I'll be waiting for you here or in our tent. How long you'll be away?" She said, seemingly a bit upset that he had to leave. He didn't know why, but the mere idea that someone would miss him while he was gone warmed his insides.

"I don't know. Depends on how fast we find prey."

"Okay. See you soon."

"See you", he said and left. It was weird, really. He hadn't known Tonks for a long time, but when he had found her waiting for him in the Leaky Cauldron, she had claimed his trust. He didn't really worry about her, she would be safe on the pond and he would find her later. He was sure of it.

* * *

><p><strong>12 Grimmauld Place<strong>

The members of the order started to fill in for the meeting. Only few members and Dumbledore were missing. Sirius had decided to do as Molly had ordered him to do, and saved his bottle of fire whiskey for the later use. He needed to be sober if there was any information concerning Remus or Tonks.

When the last members and Dumbledore arrived, everybody sat down and voices faded away.

"Good evening, everyone", Dumbledore greeted them.

"Yesterday Severus informed me that the test he did with Sirius told them that the found blood indeed was Nymphadora's. Kingsley and two other aurors visited Hogsmeade this morning. Did you find something?"

Kingsley stood up, "Dawlish took his own samples to the Ministry. We didn't find anything that we didn't already know of, nor did Mad-Eye from her apartment. Her parents know, we told them yesterday."

"Thank you, Kingsley", Dumbledore said and Kingsley sat down.

After that the subject changed to strange disappearances and other things that the Ministry refused to notice.

And then, finally, the word Sirius had waited for the whole meeting.

"Remus is still on his underground mission, and I'm sorry to inform you that I've not heard a word from him in three weeks. It seems that he has company around the clock, since any Patronuses sent to him will return immediately. So we're waiting for him to contact us."

For the rest of the meeting, when others were discussing their guard duty schedules, Sirius was rocking his chair, not really paying attention.

"Meeting's over. Molly has generously made dinner for all of us, so please stay if it suits your schedule. It looks delicious as always, but I'll have to decline this time. Good night, everyone", Dumbledore announced and left. Sirius stayed where he was, waiting for everyone to settle down so the dinner would be over as soon as possible and he could retreat to his own room to drink firewhiskey.

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><p><strong>I hope you liked this chapter. Thank you all who have favourited and followed this story, and MASSIVE thanks for Guest, WolfMarauder and ShyReview for your reviews! They always make my day better!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! I'll soon take time to answer them all, but first I'll upload this chapter. Technical issues have delayed this for far. too. long.

Now. My last author's note was about school and the pressure I had there. I'm happy to tell you that I accepted my new student place earlier in June, and I got in where I wanted. :D After that I've just worked and dealed with some unexpected events, and a few days back I looked at the calendar and realised that _holy freaking fudging sheet_, it's almost July! And I promised a new chapter during June. The chapter was almost ready, but I've had some struggles with my new computer and this freaky writing program, and I have absolutely no idea how to use it properly :C Oh well, maybe I'll learn one day. I think. Maybe. I don't really know.

This chapter is actually part one of chapter 9, I'm on the roll now and I have great plans for the part two! :D Can't wait.

**Warning: Strong language and blood.**

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the world of Harry Potter

* * *

><p><strong>Remus<strong>

Remus left Tonks behind and started to make his way towards the hunting group. He wasn't in a hurry, he didn't have any desire for being with other wolves more than it was absolutely necessary. He checked his watch and decided to do a little detour in case someone was following his trail to find Tonks. He walked around in circles for a moment and then he went to find the others.

He seemed to be the last on the clearing. Greyback threw a long, piercing look towards him and started then giving the tasks.

"Thomson, Smith and Lupin, you'll go to the village. Break in to the butcher's shop, visit the bakery, take some women with you. I don't give a fuck what you do, as long as you don't get noticed."

"Iain, Darren and Farian, you are still in the hunting group. After the disaster that some may call your hunt you should learn that it can't happen again. And this time, I'm coming with you", Greyback said and grinned when Iain gulped. The wounds Greyback had given him hadn't closed yet, and they looked infected.

"I think that was all. Go", Greyback announced. Lupin was glad that he didn't have to go with the hunters. Greyback knew that he was a horrible hunter, so he sent Lupin to the village.

Lupin turned to go with Thomson and Smith towards the village, when Greyback shouted over his shoulder.

"Actually, I changed my mind. Lupin, you'll come with us. You're a horrible hunter and you'll probably be on our way all the time, but it does wonders to your soft nature to watch how real werewolves hunt even when the full moon isn't up", he laughed at Lupin's discomfort.

"Thomson, Smith, get Mason to cover for Lupin", Greyback continued and didn't stop to wait for Lupin. Thomson gave Lupin an understanding look and Mason took hold of his shoulder and whispered "Good luck" to him. And then he was alone.

Lupin had to jog to catch up with the hunting group. He walked alongside with them, but no one even looked at him. All three of them, Iain, Darren and Farian, were looking straight forward and they walked on an even pace, clearly desperate to succeed on the task they were given. It was clear that they feared Greyback, it wouldn't be surprising if one of them lost their lives after a second failure on hunting. Lupin walked beside them, equally afraid of Greyback's unpredictability.

* * *

><p><strong>Tonks<strong>

Tonks watched Lupin's retreating back for a moment before looking at the pond. The pond wasn't big, it was rather small and only about four and half feet deep, she could see the bottom. She looked around, trying to figure out something she could do. She wanted to be as useful as possible for Remus, it was a wonder that he even endured her.

She suddenly got an idea to search for food. She left the pond and looked around, searching for berries or edible plants. She didn't have to search for a long time, soon she found a patch of blueberries. The berries seemed raw, and some weren't even berries yet, only small flowers. Tonks picked them all anyway, she was sure that Remus could do something to make them better.

* * *

><p><strong>12 Grimmauld Place<strong>

The bottle that Molly gave Sirius didn't last for long. He was lonely, worried and bored all at the same time. He gulped down the hole bottle within an hour, but he was generous enough to offer some for Buckbeak. Surprisingly, Buckbeak didn't seem to be interested in his drunken acts nor his Firewhiskey.

Out of blue Sirius got a fabulous idea that he should go and search for something more to drink. He turned the door knob and stepped in to his lovely mother's room. However, after opening the first cabinet he got whacked by a cobweb and narrowly avoided getting bit by a Doxy. He slammed the cabinet shut and rushed out as steadily as he could. Once he got out he kicked the door hard and made sure that it was locked.

Sirius hung his head and slumped down the stairs. Once again he found himself lonely and miserable, feeling sorry for himself. He hated that feeling.

He reached the landing and turned to go down to the kitchen, but then his eyes set on the door. An idea hit him. Who was there to stop him from going out? Sure, Dumbledore would be pissed with him, and others would probably worry about him. But, only if he got caught.

* * *

><p><strong>Lupin<strong>

The group of five werewolves were sneaking through the forest, trying to find something to eat. They came to an open place, and there weren't many trees, only lots of bushes. They spotted a little herd of red deer far away. There were three hinds, two fawns and one stag.

"Darren, Farian and Lupin, cover the western and northern side, Iain and I will take care of the rest", Greyback ordered in a low voice.

Lupin turned to go left with Darren and Farian, as Greyback took Iain with him to the right side. They tried to move swiftly, but it turned out to be harder than they thought, staying quiet was kind of task if you were trying to be fast at the same time.

They took their places in the western and northern side and spread around about 60 yards apart. Then they waited for Greyback's signal.

Not long after that, they saw Greyback and Iain right across the clearing, approaching the herd between them. They were crouching behind the bushes, trying to get as close as possible. They were about 30 yards away before one of the hinds spotted them and let out a bark-like sound.

The herd scattered as each deer tried to find a way out. One of the hinds ran almost straight to Greyback and Iain, and Greyback took the opportunity and launched himself on the hind's back, sending it to the ground and snapping it's neck in the process.

The stag was about to ran away between Darren and Farian, but Farian got a firm hold of it's neck and with the help from Darren, the stag fell to the ground motionlessly.

Iain was chasing one of the hinds and suddenly it was running right towards Lupin. He glasped his arms around the deer's body, so that they both stumbled and fell. However, the hind was kicking furiously and managed to make a well-aimed kick to his right eye. Lupin's arms loosened and the deer took the opportunity to scramble up and ran away as fast as possible.

Lupin stood up and watched the deer's retreating form. He opened his right eye to try and see how badly it was damaged. His eyesight was foggy, but he could manage with his left eye. It was nothing that you couldn't fix with a healing spell.

His pondering about his eyesight was shortlived, as Greyback caught up with him. He kicked Lupin to the ground.

"You bloody idiot! That would have been an easy kill, but no, you had to let it go when it put up a little resistance", Greyback growled and kicked Lupin to the side. However, Lupin didn't stay down for a long time. He got up to his knees and tried to look properly at Greyback's figure that was looming over him despite his bad eye.

That proved out to be a great mistake.

Greyback's yellow nails slashed across his face before he even realised what was happening. It was sheer luck that they didn't puncture his eyes.

"What a fucking miserable excuse of a werewolf you really are. Being with your beloved humans has softened your head and made you a weakling. You're a terrible hunter, it's been proved before", Greyback said in a menacing tone.

"You're not going to get back to the caves before you've caught something", Greyback announced and went to pick up the hind he caught. So far, the hunting group had caught two red deer, one hind and one stag. It probably could have been enough to feed the hunting group only, but not the whole pack.

Greyback threw the door for Darren to carry and indicated the group to follow. Lupin could feel Iain's disappointed look on him as he walked past him.

Lupin was still on the ground on his knees. He brought his hand up to his face to inspect the injuries he had gained from Greyback. Three gashes and one slightly bleeding cut, if he counted correctly. His hand was now covered with his own blood and he couldn't help but think what Tonks would say about his new look, because let's face it, it wouldn't be pretty. After all they were werewolf cuts and would never heal completely.

Lupin stood up to follow others, but then a small voice made him turn around and look back. He walked to the spot where the red deer were before they attacked and spotted something small and shaking on the ground. He got closer to take a better look.

It appeared to be one of the fawns. The other one had managed to escape with it's mother, but this fawn probably belonged to the hind Greyback killed. Lupin kneeled down beside the fawn. It's large dark eyes were full of fear and it's white speckled back was shaking with fearful inhales. What a sight he probably was for the poor fawn, no wonder it was scared.

The fawn turned it's head so it could look at Lupin with it's large eyes. What a beautiful creature it really was, it had just witnessed a horrible event that killed it's mother, but yet it seemed so innocent to the bad world.

He wondered what he should do with the poor thing, it couldn't stay here, and he certainly wasn't convinced that it could survive all alone. He reached forward to touch it's fluffy forehead and the fawn didn't seem to mind. It was a wonder it didn't run away. The fawn's spirit and innocence distantly reminded him of Tonks for some reason, he was amazed of how calm the fawn seemed despite recent events.

"So you found prey", Greyback said from behind his back. Lupin startled and looked over his shoulder, but didn't say anything.

"That's coming with us", Greyback continued. Lupin was still quiet and turned to look at the fawn.

"Finish it and bring it over, I don't like to wait for anyone that's left behind. And do it fast, we don't have time to wait for you", Greyback said walked away back to others.

Lupin sighed. If he just had let go of his damned curiosity, the fawn's fate wouldn't be so crude. This was again one of those freaking great examples of how he destroyed life around him, wether he meant it or not.

He scratched the fawn behind it's ears gently and mumbled an apology to the creature. Then he placed both of his hands on it's delicate neck, and snapped it quickly in half.

* * *

><p><strong>Kingsley<strong>

Kingsley was leaving the Ministry of Magic late at night. Nothing new was heard of Tonks, and there were no clues about her whereabouts. It seemed like she had simply disappeared to thin air.

He came to the Atrium and disapparated to 12 Grimmauld Place, just to check on Sirius, keep him company and let him know that there was nothing new to hear.

However, when he arrived to the Order headquarters, he called for Sirius and the only answer that he got was silence. He went upstairs - and that was something that he didn't usually do- and called out Sirius' name, but no one answered. He even went to check on Buckbeak in case that Sirius had fallen asleep in there, but all he got was Buckbeak's annoyed shriek.

Kingsley checked bedrooms, the kitchen and even a dirty cupboard that hadn't been opened for Merlin knows how long, but after all that he had to accept the fact. Now Sirius was missing, too.

* * *

><p><strong>Tonks<strong>

Tonks had already collected a pile of blueberries and plants on her new blouse, when he heard someone laughing and talking. She quickly covered the blouse with branches and leaves and then crouched to the ground so she couldn't be seen so easily. She also morphed her hair dark green and made it long, so it would conceal her better.

The source of the voices she heard appeared to be Fawler and few of his pals that had stayed at the caves while Remus and others were out hunting.

"What an idiot Iain is. He and his friends all failed so properly on the last hunt. Greyback did the right thing when he gave him a reminder of his failure, the scars will only make him prettier. Today's hunting group will be in so much trouble when Greyback's there with them, he doesn't tolerate any mistakes from anyone. I still have no idea why _he_ was rewarded", Fawler said to two others.

So Greyback was there with them? Tonks felt so bad for Remus, he had a massive pressure on him to succeed.

"Lupin will be in so much trouble. To be honest, he's a terrible hunter. Why did Greyback take him with them? Even as a punishment, Lupin will only be on their way. Even Iain is better than him", one of the other wolves said.

Now she was worried. If his packmates thought of him like that, how could he possibly impress Greyback today? Tonks had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

><p>Hope you liked it!<p> 


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